It all started to make no sense
by TobiasDM
Summary: Sarah's life after the Labyrinth, landing a job at Hogwarts. Toby training to follow Jareth, and how they deal with the return of Lord Voldemort.
1. Chapter 1

"Robert Williams…." An older regal voice declared across the bedroom. Robert pulled his wand from his inner pocket and brought it to bare while quickly taking in the changes to his room. His wife was partially undressed but frozen in time, the television as well sat as if it was paused. All of this he could explain away easily, but the man standing just inside the window was not something he was prepared for.

It was a Goblin King. Big 'G' type of goblin, the ornate clothes and proud manner matched the elegance of the last one he had dealt with.

"Robert Williams, I know what you did. I'm here to put it right." He said as he slowly stalked forwards. He pulled a crystal orb out of the air and started to spin it around his hands. He wasn't afraid of a simple wizard with a wand.

"I was a fool last time I made a deal with your kind; I won't be that foolish again."

"Now come, come my foolish Wand-bearer. I am here on your daughters behalf. You will tell me the King you dealt with or I will make your life here a living hell. Do you really want me to turn your own daughter against you? She loves me after all."

"What have you done to my Sarah?" Robert started to lower his wand. This Goblin was completely right; his spellwork would not harm him as it would lesser goblins, and he had been out of practice for years now.

"Nothing. I'm here to undo your mistake. Now what King did you deal with?" This King stood barely an arms length away spinning that crystal ball around on his hands, such a simple object, but more dangerous then anything else he had ever seen.

"What do you plan to do with this knowledge? You can't break the contract. My half has already fallen through, it can't be returned."

"I will return to her what was stolen."

"That's all? Just undo what I did?"

"For being a wizard you really do seem rather slow." He said as he turned away and slowly wandered back towards the window. "Your daughter will no longer be a squib, and you can return to the world you were born into. I'm just asking for the Goblin you dealt with." He said turning to look at him over his shoulder.

"The Goblin King was back in Britain, Rashad is its name." As soon as the name left his lips the room started to move again, the Goblin King turn to the window and shifted into a barn owl and was out the window.

"Are you ok? You look like you seen a ghost." Irene asked him as he stared out after him. It took a few moments for him to recollect himself.

"Yes I'm fine. I'll be just a minute. I want to check the house over quick." He left the room, tossing every defensive curse, incantation, or jinx he could think of on the house, and checking to make sure his son and daughter were okay.

_...-~-…_

Jareth walked down the Ivory tower gripping his side as token dribbles of blood flowed out. His blood though just drops splatter all over the steps as he left Rashad to recover. Hundred of goblins watched from the base of the tower after hearing that Jareth was going against Rashad over the love of a single squib girl.

At the bottom several of his knights sat atop there steeds waiting his return. They were holding back the rabble that wanted to go and help there king. Only the best of his subject would become knights, and he had almost found it laughable when Sarah had befriended one of the Knights that were cast out for incompetence.

As he approached the crowd he changed his clothes to a nice blood color and stood tall, no one would look upon him and see any form of weakness.

"All of you, go tend your an excuse of a King, I have what I came for. Remember what I did this day if she seek retribution, I was kind enough to let you all live." Jareth marched forward with his knights' fanning out around him as he left this pitiful kingdom, contract in hand.

_...-~-…_

It was barely a week after her trip to the labyrinth. Each night Jareth had appeared in her dreams, watching her, never interfering until just last night. Sarah had woken with a start after he had approached her carrying some old scroll. He ripped it to small pieces and tossed it over her, letting it all fall in little pieces of glitter.

"You wish to be with your friends, now you have the power to be with your friends, _my_ Sarah." Was all he said, and it was the only part of her dream she could remember.

Sarah looked about her room, and called for her friend, she was surprised and furious when Jareth appeared in her vanity mirror.

"I didn't call for you! I called for Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus!" She quickly pulled a blanket around her as she stood to face him properly.

"Now come, come Sarah. I have done so much to earn your trust and this is all the thanks I get? Hoggle is a Prince in my kingdom now, Didymus has returned to my knights full service and that oaf Ludo is helping to rebuild damages to my Labyrinth. Could you give them a bit to finish there work?"

"I didn't realize they all were so important now." She said taken back.

"But my dear, precious Sarah that is not the greatest news; you should go downstairs and talk with your father, I bet he has a real surprise for you!" His image that had been lounging on her bed behind her vanished. Never trusting Jareth, she got dressed in haste to get downstairs.

No matter what she would have dreamt up she would not have imagined her father dressed in dark green robes, crying into his sleeves with his head down as nearly a dozen letters written on what looked like parchment scattered across the kitchen table. Toby was sitting in his high chair making a mess of his breakfast and Irene was no where to be seen.

"Dad, what's wrong?" she asked as she rested her hand on his back. She just noticed a nice pair of barn owls sitting on little wooden stand on the counter. One of them looked very familiar. She tried to glare daggers at it cause she was sure it was all his fault.

"I'm sorry Sarah but I have good and bad news." He said quietly through tears.

"Um, lets go with the bad news first…"

"Well Irene has left me, and we are moving at the end of the school year." She was shocked that her 'evil stepmother' that she was finally trying to get along with just up and left her father. They had seemed so happy together.

"What going to happen with Toby then?"

"You are a great big sister, always looking out for your brother first." He said looking up with a smile. She felt a tinge of regret after what almost happened to him, but she didn't want to try and explain all that to her dad. He would never believe her. "I told her a few things that she wasn't ready to hear and we are splitting up. I'm getting full custody of Toby and we are going to where my family lives."

"We are moving to London?" She asked surprised. This seemed like such a sudden change of events that she was started to believe she was still sleeping, and Jareth had done some kind of glamour trick on her. "What's the good news then?"

He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Instead of explaining he searched through the stack of papers and handed her one of the letters. Written in a fine tiny neat scrawl it said;

_I'm so glad to hear from you after all this time! I understand raising your daughter up amongst Muggles cause of her problems but you could have wrote more often. Hearing she can do magic now make me so glad that we will all get to finally meet her! Do you think they will let her get into Hogwarts? She is a few years late, the other children will probably be in there 4th or 5th year by now. If not I'm sure we can as a family help her catch up and still find a decent job around here somewhere. All the family is looking forward to seeing both of you at the end of her school year! As soon as she gets here I want to be the one to take her to get her own wand. My granddaughter finally found her magic! _

_All our loves!_

_ Mom_

"What's a Muggle?" Her mind hadn't really wrapped around the magic part yet. Her father believing in stories of magic and wands seemed incredible.

"It's what Wizards calls people that can't do magic. When wizard's have children that can't do magic it's normally called a squib, which is kind of a bad word." He said keeping his eyes downcast like he was hiding something else.

"How do you know I can do magic now? Despite all the stories I've read I have never actually tried to do magic!" She started pacing back in forth through the kitchen. She was about to just call Jareth on all this and see if she could wake up, or maybe this was some little area of the labyrinth that he set up just for her.

He father pulled out one of his chopsticks. He said they were lucky, and never went anywhere without them. Some time ago he lost one so there was just the one. It was really to long for a chopstick, closed to 11 inches and thicker but she had never said anything to her father about it. Now seeing how he was holding it and how the handle looked she realized it looked very wand like, same as many of her storybooks. He handed it to her, handle first.

"Just say Lumos."

"Lumos" a bright light erupted at the tip, it didn't do a whole lot as the kitchen was already lit. She dropped it and Robert caught it before it hit the ground, saying 'Nox' to put the light out.

"That was a spell wasn't it?" she asked after a moment. This seemed a lot different then the kind of magic Jareth had used during her time with him. She was starting to think that she wasn't dreaming.

"A very basic spell."

"How did you know it would work now? What changed?"

Her father stood up as she took a seat now. He started to pace around his half of the kitchen. One of the owls watched him intently.

"It's a bit of a story. You see… Well I'll cut it short and say that a Goblin King I had met tricked me. It ended up with a promise that she could take the magic from my first child. After you were born, when you where just turning four I realized that it wasn't just a con. I believed she really did take your magic and I moved with you out here to America so you could grow up away from the entire magic world that I knew. Being a Squib is really hard thing to deal with and I didn't want you growing up like that."

She sat quietly for a few minutes before putting a few things together. "Was the goblin's name Jareth?"

"No. He… well he dropped by a little before you woke up. He won back your magic."

Sarah stood up and started to storm around the kitchen pointing vindictively at the Owl that was watching them closely. She was quietly screaming about owing him, and not wanting to be in debt to such a douche bag.

It took a while to calm her back down. The owl took off as her father started to give her a crash course in the basic of wizardry and what she had missed over the last decade. Why she had been so obsessed with magic and fairy tales as she grew up. But most of all, he tried to not let on that there was more to the story then he told her.

_...-~-…_

Sarah had spent a little time in the American Wizarding Community before she moved with her father Robert, and little brother Toby back to England. The next few years were extremely eventful as she was homeschooled as much as her extended family could help with. She had been after all too old to start up any of the nearby Wizarding schools.

As she came of age in three years she was able to land an apprenticeship under Ollivanders, while she was studying to become a teacher. She had grown up amongst Muggles and thought it was probably the best subject she could teach. She didn't seem to have the proper knack for making wands, though her wand (9 ¾ inches, Willow, Phoenix feather) seemed to hate and accidently break her projects.

She was just returning home after her interview Dumbledore. She would be taking up the post of Muggle studies in the coming year. Her little brother Toby met her at the door waiting for the outcome.

"So? You're going to get to be one of my teachers some day?" He asked as he caused a swarm of little paper cranes to fly about his head. The Aunts, Uncles, and Grandparents were astounded at the kind of magic he could do without a wand. The cranes weren't flapping or alive, it was just a variation of _wingardium leviosa_ but he always loved showing off what little he could do.

"Yep! I'm going to be a Professor! You won't be able to pick up my class until your fifth year though, and I won't make it any easier on you." She said as she got all the way into small mansion they lived in. Nearly everyone in her family lived on the grounds, and they had put together a small party to celebrate. Toby set a group of cranes he had folded out of tinfoil to fly around her sister as everyone started to swarm around her delivering congratulations.

The party lasted late into the night. Toby had passed out on one of the sofa at some point and his Father carried him up to bed. As he was still just 9 he would enter Hogwarts at the start of the following school year.

Sarah finally escaped her family and made it up to her room. After closing the door with a smile as she thought about how well the day had turned out as voice that sounded like it could belong to a rock star called out to her in the darkness of her room.

"If there such a thing as a good wizard, this Dumbledore is one of them. You'll be much safer at the castle under him."

"Jareth…" She turned and embraced him in the darkness. Over the last 8 years she had grown quiet fond of him, and thankful for all the things he tried to do for her even if he hid them behind seemingly cruel acts. He was still a goblin at heart and saw the world different then wizards.

"If you would just let me stay by your side at all times I could defend you from the encroaching darkness." He whispered to her.

"Wizards don't get along that well with goblins, and many don't even know about there kings. What would you do? Hide with me as an owl, and I pretend you're my pet?"

"I already feel like your pet, chained here by your love! Why not make it more literal? Only allowed to show myself when no one else is around? I would almost believe you were ashamed of me."

"Ashamed?! After everyth-" He placed a finger to her lips to quiet her. It was an old argument already that they had many times before. Neither had ever won, but Jareth still acted as if she relented. Jareth ignored the conversation up to now as if it never happened as he kissed her.

"Will you be at Hogwarts with me?" She asked when He finally let her come up for air, not something he was found of doing when he finally got her alone.

"I am a very busy King, but I'm sure I can find the time."

_...-~-…_

"She wrote!" Toby exclaimed as he dug through the owl post in the morning. He couldn't stand reading the paper yet, but did listen when the grown ups talked about it. The year hadn't been going over that well for Hogwarts as the Ministry in response to hearing about the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was putting a bunch of nonsense laws into effect to restrict things going on there.

Some of the letters had been Sarah fuming about some Delores Umbridge causing mischief in class or the like. Toby didn't care; he searched the letters for the tidbits she gave about Hogwarts itself. It seemed she wasn't teaching Harry Potter, as he grew up with Muggles like Sarah he didn't need the class.

Sarah spent a good deal of the summer keeping him in contact with the Muggle side of the world as she said a lot of wizards don't seem to have a lot of sense, and they just use magic to fix all there problems. He was already seeing problems with this as he couldn't take his video game systems with him. No computer either.

He finished skimming through the letter. It said that Dumbledore had left.

"Dad! Dumbledore left Hogwarts!" he screamed at the top of his lungs to make sure everyone heard the news. Like he expected everyone in the house came out of the woodworks to check the letter and grab the Daily Post to see what it said about it. While they discussed it he slipped out with a bit of food and found his path.

Sarah never went to the Labyrinth, but she had told him this story about a girl who had accidently give her little brother to the Kng of the Goblins and she had to go rescue him. It had taken him a few years, and a trip to Gringotts to find out her story was true.

His Aunt had gone postal when she lost tack of him as he had convinced one of the goblins to show him how to get into the labyrinth. Since then he visited when ever he could. Armed with only one of the wands he sister had made but hadn't worked to well he stood before the billow fires once again.

The goblins here had thicker skin and where constantly at work to make the finest armors. This room was deep under the castle and Sarah had never mentioned it during the stories.

"Toby your back." One of the nearby goblins said. He had gotten over how the blacksmiths always seemed to have a hint of malice in there voice, or that there words felt poisonous. It was just how the talked.

"You think I can work on the Forge today? I'll be really careful!" he asked pushing the wand deep into his pocket. They didn't like the wand, but he was careful to not let himself go unarmed around them. They could be dangerous if they wanted.

"Jareth wants to see if you can make a dagger. Think you're up to it?" The goblin said as he approached. His name was Urdrog, and he was the Master Smith of this foundry. He was the only goblin allowed to give him lessons.

"I smelted the silver just find didn't I?"

"That you did, you'll make a fine smith some day if you keep this up." He motioned towards the foundry and they got to work.

The end result was like nothing he had ever seen. The silver seemed to flow and meld with his thoughts as he had worked on it. The blade was sharp and was already tested against a troll's strength. His name was carved into a spot just below the hilt to show off his work. Today was different though, as he went to go home Urdrog stopped him.

"Master Toby, King Jareth wishes to see you, and the work you've done." He was directing him towards the stairs. He had never gone up after a day of work before and was a little weary, but showing off the dagger did appeal to his pride.

As he ascended the stairs his clothes magically replaced themselves with a clean outfit that reminded him of 200 year old stuff. The tights were rather uncomfortable, but it would save him from a bath when he got home. Feeling clean and awkwardly dressed he walked into the throne room.

He knew from the stories he had spent most his time when he was captured in this room, but for now it was empty. Empty besides the Goblin King. Urdrog didn't follow him in, and he stepped forward and stood before Jareth.

"Didn't the goblins teach you any manners? You bow before your betters." He said, trying to sound as insulting as possible. Toby smiled and pulled the dagger from its leather sheath. It held it up by the very tip, carful to not let it cut him.

"Goblin King, I have crafted this silver weapon, who could possibly be my better?" He said trying to not start giggling. Jareth stood with anger etched across his features. He stepped forward and took the dagger, slowly examining the edge, the length, the intricate handle that showed a serpent wrapping around the handle before it seemed to be trying to swallow the blade from the hilt side. The eyes shone with a beautiful jade jewel. There were bits of gold inlaid to accent the underbelly or the etches in the handle. Jareth stabbed the dagger into one of his crystal balls and let it hang in the air next to him as he brought his attention back to Toby.

"You dare bring a weapon of such quality into my presence? You do know what this means?"

"Yep." He was nearly laughing.

"Now you are truly a Goblin Prince!" Jareth smiled picking him up under the arms and twirling him around. Hundreds of goblins appeared laughing and singing. The smiths all crowded out of the stairwell and were clapping. As he set him down he looked to the assembled. "Spread the word far and wide! Toby has mastered a silver dagger. My Heir has come into his own at last!"

It had been a long day again already, and as all the different goblins partied, he fell asleep on the throne where Jareth had set him down; holding tightly to the blade he forged.

_...-~-…_

"Are you sure I need a new wand? I kinda like the ones Sissy made." Toby asked as he entered Ollivander's. It had been a few months since he forged a goblin dagger and he was finally getting ready to go to Hogwarts.

"Ah, the wand chooses the wizard Mr. Williams. The ones your Sister made where fair enough, but none of them really had a soul to them if you can grasp what I mean." The old man said as he came up; a tape measure already floating next to him.

"I heard a similar settlement before Mister, and like him I'll bow before your greater expertise." He said as he nodded his head and did half a bow to the old wand maker.

Ollivander got right to work as he had been looking forward to this young man when his sister had been trying to learn the trade. She hadn't had the raw talent but an apprentice had been helpful around the shop. He was surprised though when it came time to start the search the boy asked for a moment. He pulled a silver dagger from his satchel and looked like be performed the four point spell. He followed where the dagger pointed as he went around the boxes.

Ollivander was so surprised about this that he sat back and just gaped at him. An untrained wizard able to do this complicated of magic without a real spell focus? Maybe the dagger itself has a powerful magical property was all he could come up with.

The boy searching through the many shelves took just a few minutes to find the box it had been pointing to. He nimbly took it down, it was a very old wand. His own Master had made this one, and it with others of the similar style never seemed to pick wizards.

"Mr. Williams, This wand is 12 ¼ inches long, willow like your sisters, and it has an unusual core." He said as he took it out and handed it to him. It immediately fired a shower of red sparks.

"It seems to like me, what special about the core?"

"You see Mr Williams, I find hair to be temperamental to work with, you sort of have to be attuned to the magical beast to use it properly. That wand uses Merfolk hair." Ollivander explained while handing him the box, Toby put away his dagger as he excepted the wands case.

"Well I can't breath underwater so that out of the picture." He said smiling and walking back to his father, who was counting out the cost of the new wand from his coin pouch.

"Send me an owl here and again to tell me how that wand works for you." Toby agreed and they left out of the shop as three large men walked in. Robert held his son close as they passed by. Outside of the shop he pulled him along towards Madam Malkin's to get his robes.

"Dad, what kind of wand do you got?"

"Huh? Oh, I got a Maple, 10 ½ inches, with a Dragon's heartstring."

"Do you think the core really matters? You got a dragons and I got a merfolks."

"Personally I've never used another wand so I really couldn't tell you. Now mind your manners in here. Malkins will be making your robes for all of your schooling, and you don't want her to make them look funny."


	2. Chapter 2

Sarah was seriously thinking about calling the Ghostbusters. The new students were being sorted right then and she was stuck dealing with Peeves.

She had trapped him in a room on the fourth floor, she had salted the far wall and been corralling him this direction. As soon as he was in she salted the door, and the windows had already been salted aswell. Despite his ability to walk through walls, when all the walls and entrances where covered he was stuck. She did amuse herself a bit while Peeves tried to pass through the ceiling or floor.

"Defeated by condiments? Come now, what will the other ghost say! It was just a few water and flour balloons! No harm done?"

"My little brother is being sorted down there and I'm stuck baby sitting you! Your going to be stuck in this room until someone brushes the salt away." She said as she closed the door and tried to get to the dinning hall in time.

Since she arrived she had become for the most part, an expert on dealing with nuisance of magical creatures. Most of the remedies she learned from her time with muggles worked perfectly, and the wizards seem to ignore those options, always going for a wand.

She entered the Great Hall from the teacher entrance and quietly made her way to her seat. The sorting was nearly done, and for once she was glad for the W in there last name.

"Walsh, Michelle!" Professor McGonagall called. The girl walked up and waited with the hat for nearly 30 sec before crying out in loud voice.

"RAVENCLAW!" Sarah had been completely surprised by how the sorting was done last year, but after that first year the oddities of the castle started to feel second nature. She had after all defeated a Goblins Labyrinth, how hard could a wizard's castle be?

She clapped with the rest of the staff members and the ravenclaw table as the girl excused herself and ran to sit with her table.

"Wiedenbach, Gregory!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"White, Alexander!"

"SLITHERIN!"

"White, Shamus!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Williams, Toby" She finally said. Sarah didn't really care what house her brother got into, most of the family had been Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. The family did have a bet on which one though, she hadn't placed a wager. She kind of hoped for Ravenclaw cause there homeroom wasn't to far from her office. The hat was placed on his head and wait just a few moments before it let out.

"SLITHERIN!" She was glad that everyone would lose there bet to her Great Aunt, the only other person in the family that had been Slitherin. She had been betting on Slitherin for everyone since she moved back into the estate. It was good to hear she would get some of those lost galleons back.

Toby smiled and took off the hat and ran over to the table as he was congratulated by his fellow Slitherin's.

_...-~-…_

This first thing Toby realized after spending time with his housemates was it was like being back in the foundries. Only this time he wasn't setting up to be prince. His housemates constantly felt like they were preparing to stab each other in the back, or buy there way on each other good graces. He had arrived at this show late, and other bigger fish already controlled the best waters.

Like this Draco Malfoy.

He seemed to have some sort of big plans, and the Dark Lord was someone he actually talked to. He couldn't write home about this kind of stuff or they might pull him out of school and he had waited to long to get here. Now he would learn real magic, and learn how to manipulate these wannabe master smiths to be a good work crew.

The first thing was to become respectable, and with this crowd already set up with a hierarchy he had to climb. Kissing up to Malfoy was easy. Like a few other first and second years he followed him around and hung on his every word.

Also getting in good with his Head of House, which meant being adept at defending against the Dark Arts. He was glad for this, he heard last year Snape had been the Potion master, and he found that he was terrible at potions. At home he never did anything similar even cook. He was going to need help.

It was the first weekend at school and he was trying to find a deserted corridor in this overly large school. He could have asked some of his housemates to help but he was already seeing giving them any kind of information was like giving them blackmail material. It was going to be a very careful give and take relationship, and he wanted to do the taking.

He pulled a piece of chalk from his bag and drew a small door on one of he stone. After drawing a handle he knocked on it. He waited only a few seconds before the door opened and he could see the Master Smith standing there waving him in.

"What can we do for our Prince?" he asked, and then nearly fell over in surprise as Toby hugged him.

"You can't imagine how awful my house mates can be. I thought the fires in the foundries where bad, these people are like living with rattle snakes ready to strike when you take your boot off." Toby said as he pulled away and took a seat at the edge of the work shop.

"Have they tried to hurt you?" he asked laying a hand on his hammer that he kept on his belt at all times.

"No. Not that kind of help. Most of them are smarter then using brute force to finish disputes. I'm gonna need a leg up on them. I need better ways to get information, I want to be a top of the line pupil, when I get the respect of the Professors I can get more power to exercise. After I get that I can work on turning them to help with whatever I plan."

"And what is it that your planning Master Williams?"

"I'm still Toby until I finish my set of armor." He said glaring at Urdrog. He smiled back, but flashed some teeth.

"That's right, still my apprentice. Then I have an idea for the studying. But still, what is your plans?"

"Um… I'm actually not sure yet." He said looked around at the forge and the many goblins working to forge the greatest of weapons and armor. "I think for now I just want to be a world class wizard. Then when I find a purpose for it, I'll use my influence."

"That would be most ideal." He said motioning for him to head to the wall were they kept many of the base plans. Urdrog already knew that by the time he came of age Toby would probably be retiring to the Labyrinth but for now it was good the boy have a chance at fun.

Draco was like an older brother to him now. An ill tempered, constantly depressed, and possibly mental, older brother. Draco's plans had not been going well. He didn't tell anyone, and I mean anyone what they were, but Toby already noticed that when people got hurt it seemed to directly effect his mood.

Katie Bell of Griffindor a few months ago had touched a curse necklace, and Draco had been furious about it. Some rumors of Ronald Weasley getting poison had put Draco in a state aswell.

Toby was figuring both had been meant for others but he wasn't sure who. He didn't want to bring this to Sarah either cause if he played at being a rat it would tear down everything he had been working towards. Most of the first year and second years already respected him. He kept himself adept at all the rumors and his class work. It was tiring work, he was glad he could manage his time like a Brownie.

Currently he was sitting on his bed going over the notes in a potion book. Urdrog was good, and he used Toby's magic and goblin crafting to make a perfect study book. It was the size of a decent tome. The inside lacked pages as it was just twin mirrors that face each other when closed. The magic cause it to be like a scrying window that showed him the contents of many different books. Getting the different books had been the difficult part though.

Urdrog explained that you had to touch each book with your wand and then the spine of the book they had crafted together. What made it so exceptional was that even after you touched it, if people wrote in it, the mirror book updated what it said.

Toby had over Christmas break gone to several book stores and copied the contents of them all, as well as the library inside the castle and the one at home. This might be illegal was the only worry, but as he didn't take the book he felt not as guilty.

He had devoured the Potions books as he was able to touch a number of Professor Snape's copies, and he had a habit of writing notes in his. He built on different teachers notes and it was more like having one on one time with each as he prepared for class.

He was careful not to touch any of the book that had answer listed, if he was caught he didn't want those type of books listed if they felt it was against the rules.

Currently in Slughorns class Toby was fiddling with a potion that was supposed to be a simple poison. Toby had been saddened to find that Slughorn kept next to nothing for notes, he was too adept at remembering his random trivia.

Instead he was coping the notes from a nearby Ravenclaw who seemed to understand what she was doing. Back in the Labyrinth a goblin was set taking most of the different notes and compiling them from many different book of the same title so he could cross reference them. Now if he could get this book to work as a screen for his game console he wouldn't be able to every complain about the amount of work it took to make it.

As the class let out, he got full marks and took his bag and supplies up the dungeon step to hear about a possible murder.

"Stevens! What happened?" he asked a fourth year that took it upon himself to be the one to spread the news.

"It was Malfoy! He was nearly killed! Snape patched him up, but now he's in the infirmary." And like that there was a mad dash as Toby and a bunch of his admirers went to check on there prefect.

Snape was outside the door when they arrived, and was calming down his students as he explained that Malfoy would be alright, but he wouldn't actually say who caused it. Almost like a hive mind we spread out to find out who knew.

Toby had spotted this tactic early on. Many of the first thru third years would be the ones to overhear what was going on, but it all depended on who they told it to. If they waited to long someone else was bound to find out and get credit. Each of the younger students seem to cling to an older as there sort of social anchor, and the respect trickled down from it.

Toby also wondered if he was just over thinking these kinds of things as he found some Ravenclaw's talking in the library. They weren't very shocked as they said those two had been rivals for year now, and it was only time before one of them would bleed. They just had thought it would have been the Slytherin doing the cutting.

Harry Potter was the one that did the cutting.

Toby raced to the common room to tell what he found out. He was back quick enough that the only other person (a second year), learn the offender had gotten detention for the rest of the school year. Toby delivered the name and strangely the group went quiet. Some of the other first year left to tell those they could, but the older student seemed to act as if they figured as much.

Toby vanished to his dormitory and thought about this. From what he learned from the House Elves, Goblins, and other students (beside Slythrin) Harry was a good wizard. You should hear the house elf Dobby go on about him. Though Kreacher, a house elf that belong to Harry had nothing but bad things to say about him. Then he had heard the stories from the other students like when Harry sicked a serpent on a fellow student, and that he was a parlsemouth. Something generally only a dark wizard was capable of. By most rights he sounded like the kind of person that should be in Slitherin. He even faked his way into the tri wizard tournament, something Toby had hoped would be brought back by the time he was old enough to enter.

After a bit he gave up and just started in on the homework he had. He sped through it in the amount of time that would make a House Elf proud.

_...-~-…_

The news hit Sarah like a sack of bricks. Dumbledore was dead.

It was nearing the end of the school year, and a group of death eaters had broken into the castle. She had just been informed by Flitwick when she woke. The first thing she did was take off to the dungeons to check on Toby. As she reached for the door handle a leather glove held it closed.

"Sarah, before you do anything rash we have to talk." Jareth's voice said from just behind her, sound O so reasonable.

"What is there to talk about? I need to make sure my brother is alright!"

"He's fine. He working the crowd as we speak to take up the mantle of this malfoy kid. What we need to talk about is this school though. Even with Dumbledore gone, this place is heavily enchanted and fortified against Darker Magic's."

"Dumbledore is dead! Do you think they'll keep it open with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named about?"

"Listening about I believe yes they will. But what I'm asking is that you don't return next year."

"You still want Toby to come back…"

"Yes. Toby will return on his own cause he believes in the power this school has. I cannot watch over and protect both of you though."

"So you'll leave me at home? Where I'll have to worry about both of you the whole time?" She was so angry that tears started to leak out. She tried to hide them but she knew he would notice as if he planned them himself.

"So touching, worry for me of all people? Come now Sarah, wipe away those tears. I don't want to see you cry, so obviously I won't let either of us die knowing what a state it would put you in." That over confident grin plaster to his face. Sarah step forward and hit him as hard as she could on his shoulder before kissing him and taking off out the door. Jareth vanished after his kiss, he had much to prepare for.

Sarah got barely halfway down the hall before she saw Toby come up the stairwell. Toby had his wand out and a hand in his school bag.

"Sarah! Malfoy is gone!"

"Are you okay?"

"I'm great! I got something to show you though, lets go back into your office." She was curious, and surprised about how he held himself now. She had always seen her little brother to be a curious, happy distracted kind of kid. She hadn't seen much of him besides the times during summer but he felt more like the kind of person you look to when things are going wrong, he had an air about him like what he said was what you wanted to do. It kind of reminded her of how Jareth was when he wasn't being an arse.

"Have you seen one of these before?" Toby asked as he placed a wide, low walled silver bowl on her desk. Inside had a mass of silver and white swirls with small image fragments showing inside.

"Is that a pensieve?" she asked slightly confused as she approached. "It looks kind of like the one Dumbledore has in his office."

"See I knew you were a good teacher! Right you are, and I've already decided that this is more useful then wands are most of the time. Take 10 points for the Professors Hourglass." He said with a big grin. She gave him a look she had been using on trouble makers but he just laughed it off.

"Okay, but why do you have one?"

"I, ah… well I made it. Most of the complications of it are in the metal work, not the enchantment."

"Wait, how far along are you in your spellwork?"

"Um… well… you see I've been looking ahead quite a bit. I already started looking at next years courses." He was lying, she knew him that well. How much farther he was looking forward she couldn't tell, but she was barely casting at a 5th years capability, and she had been practicing a lot to get up to the other teachers levels.

"Well… I want to show you something I saw." He pulled a vial out of his bag. The little vial was full of white fluid that seemed to radiate light. He pulled the cork and dumped it in. Sarah stepped forward and entered the memory. After a moment she wished she hadn't.

She was standing on top of the astronomy tower next to her brother. He had his school bag on him and was dressed as if he just left from class. He was gazing fascinated upwards. She followed the gaze and saw the Dark Mark hanging from the sky above.

"It is what happened last night. This is a memory." Toby said standing next to her. She saw the other one pull a cloak out and wrap it about himself as a person on a broomstick approached the tower. It was Dumbledore!

"Potter landed with him."

"Huh?" she looked over to the real version of her brother. He was starting to climb down to the balcony the same way the cloaked version of him was. The cloak made him fairly transparent, was it actually rending him invisible?

"Potter has a really good invisibility cloak, if you looked a bit more careful you would have saw bit of his broom when they approached. You can hear him talking if you come down." She quickly tried to follow, but she hadn't figure out the path down from here once already and got down just in time to hear Harry say "But-"

"You swore to obey me, Harry – go!" Dumbledore said nearly yelling at the invisible boy. Dumbledore looked around the room and stopped when he saw Toby hiding under the cloak, a look of confusion on his face. Toby put his finger to his lips in a quiet motion, Dumbledore nodded and motioned for him to remain quiet as well. They all turned to look at the door as Draco broke in with his wand leveled.

"_Expelliarmus_!" he cried and we all watched as Dumbledore's wand flew. Toby made as if to toss him his own wand but a subtle hand movement from the withered arm said he didn't want it.

Sarah could barely believe it. Dumbledore had let himself be disarmed and killed. She was on autopilot as his death finally sunk in for her. She heard Dumbledore talk Draco out of it, and then a sound of breaking stone brought her back around for the Death Eaters and Snapes arrival.

She forgot this was a memory and even tried to get in the way of the killing curse that took Dumbledore. To her great annoyance her brother just laughed. She glanced around and saw the Toby under the cloak jump off the side. She quickly moved over and watched him slow his decent and land unhurt.

"How did you do that?"

"Charms, slow the fall of an object or person. I cast it on the cloak as I fell." He said looking down at himself. The world froze around her and he seemed very pleased with himself.

"Why are you so giddy? You didn't join up with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did you?"

"No! Nothing like that! This shows Draco is actually a good person at heart! I was starting to believe he really was a douche bag under all that hair gel. He lowered his wand before the Death Eaters came in. He really was going to give up!"

"But Dumbledore is still dead! Snape was one of the best wizards in the school and he just killed Dumbledore!" she said trying to drive the fear of what was going on into her younger brother mind. He obviously couldn't cope.

"It was a kindness."

"That house really has started to warp-"

"He asked Snape!" Sarah blinked a few times as if clearing her sight would clear her mind. Toby waited a few moments before continuing. "Earlier this year I was skulking around for ideas and I decided to break into Dumbledore's office. This was after I got sent there once, and he has all sorts of interesting objects so I wanted another chance to look at them; mainly without him staring at me while I did it."

"Why did you get sent to the Headmaster Office?" She said taking on the 'I'm a teacher or a parent' type voice.

"It was one of the few times I talked back to a Professor. I got in an argument with Snape outside of class about Goblins. He sent me to Dumbledore. Anyway, when I went back the second time-"

"What would you know about Goblins?" She was really trying to give them that look that she saw McGonagall give her students and they broke under the pressure. Her brother just smiled more.

"Well get to that later. Anyway as I was saying, I found the pensive and took a stroll around it. You wouldn't believe the memories Dumbledore has stored there! I found out why Snape joined up with Dumbledore, and was really against Voldemort. Also that injury on his hand was going to kill him in a few months anyway."

"So… Dumbledore asked him to do it for the pretense of still working for You-Know-Who?"

"Yep you're getting it now!"

"Does Dumbledore know you know all this?"

"He knew. We had a special arrangement. Which is also why I got to tell you; I'm coming back to school next year."

"I know… I don't think I'll be coming back though."

"Good, I don't want to be having to watch out after you." He said plastering a big grin on his face as the dream around them faded and they were back in her office. He covered the bowl and put it back into his school bag.

"What do you all have in there?" She asked trying to get a look at it before he closed it. Despite not being as filled with book as other students it sounded like it had many smaller metal objects.

"Useful items I've picked up. You have no idea how useful half the trinkets we use are in the right situations."

"Including invisibility cloaks? Where did you get it?"

"And on that note…" He pulled it from pocket and covered himself. She shook her head before talking to the air.

"We live at the same house, and you are still going home over the summer." The door open and closed a moment later. Sarah sat down at her desk finally letting her nerves get the better of her. Her brother was neck deep in trouble around here all school year and she hadn't even noticed.


	3. Chapter 3

Toby had thought he had seen his sister mad before. This time she was so furious she looked ready to hex the Master Smith. That on its own was just a bad idea.

"Where is Jareth! Ludo! Sir Didymus!" She bellowed while standing at the entrance of the Smithy. It was summer break and he had went back to work on his armor. His sister had stolen is cloak with out him realizing and followed.

"Come come now Sis, this is the first time you been back to the Labyrinth in years! Take a moment to enjoy yourself." He said trying to calm her down. She froze and turned towards him with a looked that he swore would actually causing him pain if she stared long enough.

"Come come now? How you spent this entire time with Jareth?" Toby wasn't really sure how to answer that. The truth looked like it might get him hexed, and a lie she would probably see through and still hex him.

"Sarah! We must have a feast, its been to long since you visited my home." Jareth said as he came down the stairs. She closed her eyes and step back, she started to whisper something.

"Now what would you need to do that for? We have been friends how long now? Like I would try and trick you after how far we've come." He said looking a little unsettled as he approached.

"Even with wizards magic I don't trust myself to the glamour you can wield." She said finally looking at him.

"How do you know it's not just my charms you fell for? Come now, let me give you a proper tour, you did leave in such haste last time." He offered his hand, palm down.

"What about Toby?" she asked taking his hand; she looked over her shoulder as he started to slowly pull her along. Toby nodded his head and went into the metalwork's.

"He's working on making his own armor out of Goblin Silver. Very difficult, you should let him work." Spoken like it happened everyday. Sir Didymus met them at the top of the stairs.

"My Lady! What a wonder to see you back in our fair city!" he stood there saluting with a well made white vest, and commodore like hat. The feather coming out of it was nearly as tall as him.

"It's so good to see you! You always seem to be so busy!" Sarah cried out kneeling to give him a hug. He returned it easily despite the size difference.

"Our schedules seem to be at odds many of the times, and you do seem busy Professoring these day aren't you?"

"Yeah, its not just your fault. Where Ludo and… well where's Hoggel?" she asked slightly biting her lower lip. When Jareth had said he was royalty, it was because he was now 'Prince of the Bog of Eternal Stench' and now resented her for the promotion. She had refused to speak to Jareth for nearly a full year when she found that out. She understood the amount of jealousy Jareth had now, but she still hadn't really forgiven him for doing it.

"Sir Ludo is building on the city; he has made towers of stone that seem beyond imagining while we awaited your return." Sir Didymus escorted her outside while Jareth followed close behind.

She remembered the towers of glass and steel, sky scrappers over fifty stories tall. What Ludo had down was made something quite similar out of blocks of stone, building over ten stories now occupied the street where she and her band of friends conquered Jareth's goblin army.

Ludo had slowly made his way around the canyon like building and perked up when he saw her. "Ludo's friend!" he said in his slow way before rushing over to hug her. Despite being able to talk to them whenever she called, she had been seeing less and less of them over the last few years, even before taking up her job at Hogwarts.

Jareth was enjoying watching Sarah meet up with her old friend in his realm once again when a group of Firey came down from the castle. They where tossing there heads back and forth and having a good time until they got to Jareth.

"Hey Boss!"

"Yeah Boss!"

"We got a message for you!"

"Yeah they said it was important!" They said back to back, almost jumbled enough that you couldn't tell when one stop and another started talking. Jareth looked to them, and if he didn't know better he would have sworn they were scared.

"Can't you see I'm with the Lady Sarah right now? Buzz off!" he said waving his hand towards them. They all handed each other the right head back and turn to him again. This time out of there normal joyful voice they all whispered. "It's Gringotts sir."

Jareth for once seem to freeze up for a moment. He turned back to them and knelt close. "Gringotts is here to see me? Did he say why?" They shook there head no.

"Sarah! Please enjoy yourself, it seems my duties are never done." He said turning back to her and calling out so she would hear over Ludo telling her about the buildings. Sarah looked to him questioningly, but Jareth only gave her a confident smile. She waves at him before turning somewhat back to Ludo. She watched as Jareth ascended the steps back up to his castle.

"Wizard!? This is unspeakable! How dare he let some sniveling little wand-bearer like you learn our secrets?!" Gringotts yelled. Urdrog and Toby were both standing next to the stairs that lead down to the smithy. After the opening introductions they had remained silent as Gringotts went on and on.

"This is a base treachery! Letting this… boy hold even our hammers." He was pacing back and forth spout off all sorts of profanities. He finally made his way over to the throne and was about to sit when Jareth entered.

"What do you think your doing?"

"Lord,"

"Actually I prefer Jareth, but you may call me that." Jareth walked over to his throne that Gringotts had a hand on. Ignore Gringotts, Jareth took his seat. Gringotts appearance was like that of many of his own goblins, with the pure black eyes and claws, but he had a much more thin, human shape about him, and he stood closers to five feet tall.

"You know well what I meant Jareth. I will be treated with the respect that is to be given a Goblin King."

"You will be given as much when you act that of a Goblin King."

"Your nerve-"

"Mine little Gringotts? You march into my kingdom, uninvited, unheralded, and have the audacity to try and sit in my throne?" Jareth wasn't keep control of his anger well as fire almost seemed to start smoldering off him in heat waves.

"I see you can remember your pleasantries when they apply to your home, but what of others?"

"Stop beating around the bush Lord Gringotts. What is you have come here for?"

"He is here because I asked him to." A woman said as she stepped into the room from the direction of the castle entrance. Her hair flowed like water down to her waist, and was a beautiful bright blue like the waters around an ocean beach. She wore a thin flimsy almost see through dress that was light blue to match her hair. Her face was sculpted model perfect, but her eyes looked like carved amber that lit up like fire.

"I told you when I left 'I never wished to see your face again', and what I would do if I did Rashad."

"Oh, did Gringotts tell you? I am no longer ruler of my lands, I watch over them as Gringotts Regent." She said trying to sound surprised and light until her title came out with her anger. "Any attack or threat against me would reflect upon him."

"You barged into her kingdom uninvited and challenged her. No call for champion, not preparation, all for a simple contract. Then after defeating her you claimed all that was her's was your and spared them all to go about there lives? You make us all look like common wizards with acts like that Jareth." Gringotts said, pulling a black metallic looking orb from nowhere and suspending it in front of himself. Toby notice Jareth look very uneasy for the first time he had ever known him. Many other would not have noticed the signs, but Toby had been trying to emulate him for some time now and was astonished by what he saw.

"Unlike you I'll give you a moment to choose a second and we shall see if when I win I will be as lenient as you were." A second and third sphere appeared revolving around his hands as he watched for Jareth reaction.

"I challenge!" Toby said stepping forward. All eyes turned to look at him. "I challenge your champion as is the _normal_ custom to decide this outcome."

"And why boy should I even listen to such words. You're nothing more then a wand-bearer meddling in goblin business."

"I am a Goblin Prince, and Heir to Jareth's Throne." Toby said step closer. Jareth watched him without saying a word. Gringotts looked between the two before turning back to Toby.

"A Prince you say, well Prince Toby, why shouldn't I just finish with my challenge against Jareth and remove your call for royalty?" Gringotts stepped right up to Toby who stood only a little taller. The orbs he had where all in one hand now and where being spun back and forth in a manner Jareth had been found of doing.

"You're supposed to be the hero King Gringotts." Toby said as if this was a play. Gringotts looked surprised and turn to Rashad. She shook her head confused before everyone gave there attention back to Toby.

"The damsel came to you to help avenge the wrong that were committed. If you come here and kill him straight out, no games, no contests like you claim Jareth ignored then you will look no better then Jareth himself in the other Kings eyes. How long before they band together and come against you believing that you're the evil tyrant now? You say what Jareth did was wrong, but only by follow the true protocol will you be able to be the hero of this story." Toby said finishing at last. Gringotts turned away from Toby and walked over to Rashad. They conversed quietly for a few minutes before he turned back to Jareth.

"I call a formal challenge of champions against the Goblin King Jareth. Loser will put forth all skills and force to be at the use of the winner."

"Three, Three challenges will decide the outcome as is the old way." Jareth finally spoke up. He stood from his throne and moved to back Toby. "The challenger for each round will set the date, and the challenged will choose the task that is possible for both parties."

"Of course, unlike some I do not forget the old customs." Gringotts did a sweeping bow that they had to return. "I shall make you all aware of the date and time for my challenges." As he motioned for Rashad to leave he nodded once again as his orbs vanished up his sleeves and followed her out.

"Sarah is going to kill me."

"After she figure out how to skin me alive for allowing you to engage and such a demanding Goblin politics. Tell me, how did you know he would agree to such a ludicrous deal?"

"I didn't really, it what just the only thing I could think of when he came with such a superior force. In Slytherin half the battle are won and lost based entirely on how you are perceived by the other housemates. I figured if I could get him to think that the other goblins will be think he's the bad guy in this he would change his tactic." Toby said letting out a deep breath and plopping down on the throne himself. His bag on the ground next to his feet. Jareth knelt down next to him so he could look at him on level.

"We will have to increase your training. His champion is bound to be older, and his challenges need only be given with an hour of delay. He could call in the middle of the night so you best be prepared for a tactic like that as well. No one would look down on him for that." Jareth pulled his glass like orbs from no where and started to fiddle with them.

"Well then I better get going then shouldn't I?"

"Of course, but please, not a word of this to your sister?" Toby nodded and vanished with Urdrog down the stairs. Jareth sat on his throne for a few minutes to calm his nerves. He had barely defeated Rashad, with Gringotts backing her he would have been overcome with almost no resistance.

_...-~-…_

Sarah and Mr. Williams stood on platform 9 ¾ seeing Toby off to his second year. The air around the train was a lot less joyful as many were afraid to let there kids go when many knew and believed the Dark Lord was back and in power again. The Ministry of Magic decreed that all of age wizards must attend. Toby seemed ecstatic to get back to school. Sarah was guessing cause it was easier to sneak back to the Labyrinth from school ground then home where he was the only young wizard to look after right now.

"I want you to be careful now. Always your best behavior. I didn't hear a lot of good things about Snape last year, and he's playing at being the Headmaster now." Sarah said as she fixed the collar of the shirt she knew he was going to switch out of soon anyway.

"Don't worry, I'll be in as much trouble as I was last year okay?" he said taking off towards the train as soon as she let go. He had his own Owl this year, Sarah wasn't sure but it did look really close to how Jareth appeared.

"He'll be alright Sarah. He has more then just wizards looking out after him." Sarah was surprised to hear her father say this. She wasn't good at hiding that fact when she looked at him.

"I've heard of worse stories then the ones you told him when he was younger. I'm sure the goblin king didn't forget about him after the big sister saved him." He said smiling and walking back to the muggle platform.

Sarah was speechless for nearly a full minute before she ran to catch up. She still didn't like apprating anywhere if she had a car handy to do the traveling.

On the train Toby had been unable to join the room with Draco Malfoy. It was already filled. This would be a bit of a damper as he would have to later pick up whatever gossip he gave away. The only room he found that wasn't occupied by a Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff or Gryffindor was a room with two twin Slytherin girls. He entered as meekly as he could and they waved there hand like they didn't care before he took his seat.

He wasn't completely sure but the girls were Flora and Hestia Carrow. Both fifth years now if he remembered right and they had been members of that stupid Slug Club last year. They where whispering between each other. Toby didn't really care that much as they never left ripples in the pool until he heard one of them mention Ravenclaws Diadem.

He had looked through ledgers from the goblin smiths and knew of that item. It was another item stolen from his race by the wand-bearers. He quickly fixed how he said that in his mind. He kept up his feigned sleep and wished he could get out some of his tools from his bag but it would be too noticeable.

Many of the goblin items acted almost as if spells themselves, there weapons being only some of the simplest creation but had decent versatility. Like now he already wore the first set of contact that helped him peer through disillusion like effects. Many goblins had made glasses that did the same, but with how large there iris was, covering the whole eye it just not very feasible. His human sized iris worked well, but someone was bound to notice the silver streaks it left across his blue eyes.

They seemed to believe that he was asleep, he didn't give them notion otherwise when they mentioned it. They where debating if it was cleared out after the Death Eaters snuck through there. Toby last heard that was a rumor, but probably something that had been believed to be fact by now.

Toby hadn't tried last year to get in. He remembered Draco talking about it in passing but… Toby was sure he could find it. He had already found most of the secret passages on his own. The Ledge listed the Daidem as an object that relatively slowed how time felt around you so you would get more time to think through and react to situations. With the tournament at any time that would be of great importance.

Thinking out plan for what he would do when got his free time he eventually did pass out. It was many hours later that he felt a hand shaking him.

"Little boy, we are almost at 'Ogwarts." A girls voice whispered to him. She sounded like she was trying to speak up but just didn't know how. He looked up and thanked her. It was one of the Carrow sisters, not sure which at the moment. They had already switched into there robes while he slept. First time he realized he had missed a golden opportunity. He tried to shake the thought and sleep out of his eyes as he pulled on the robes and took off the clothes underneath it.

As the train pulled to a stop, all the students made there way off. A few large blokes in hooded black robes where passing a sensory around student before they could go to the carriages. For a moment he was afraid they would confiscate his goblin tools, but as he inspected the crowd they let many of the Slytherin student pass without testing them, or if they did it was so far away as that it wouldn't pick up anything. Toby waited back as long as he could so they would be impatient and just shove him through before he went.

Waiting the longest paid off. Somehow his carriage was empty of other students. His eyes could make out the foggy appearance of the Threstal that pulled it up to the school. They didn't have a disillusion charm, it was a clause on there appearance so his contacts didn't full work, but in most cases partial use could be take as full.

Halfway up to the castle his owl flew down into the carriage and Jareth appeared across from him lounging. His clothes Toby now recognized as some of the finest goblin armor smithing that could ever take place. The material acted like liquid metal, at the behest of the wear's will. Jareth always choose it to look like some fantastic Victorian style outfit and it formed to the shape. Like this it wasn't as strong of a protection, but he could always remold it quickly into something closer to plate, or chainmail. Toby's own similar armor wasn't complete yet. A kings armor needed so many different enchantments and runes forge into it that only two pieces where worthy to be worn yet.

"He's trying to disrupt your life. When you get inside you'll have to take a sick moment and leave to the washrooms. His first challenge is not even a half hour away." Jareth said in that way that he had to show he had the utmost confidence. Toby believed this was a ploy. A useful ploy so those around him would shield themselves with it and press forward.

"I'll see what I can do. I still have my bag with me. Any idea what we are doing?"

"As he challenged, we get to choose the competition. This is what makes challenges so irksome. This means we get to play to our strength."

"Okay the better question is who is his champion?" Toby asked as he started to dig through his bag to make sure everything was there, his book, dagger, wand, pensieve, and gloves. There was also a really basic contact carrying case that the goblins had tried to steal. Something about it being plastic.

"I'm not sure. Heir are not required to be Champions, and if not for you preparing for this, Sarah probably would have been mine. Last I heard he didn't have a heir, and fortunate for us Kings cannot be called a champion, its beneath there title." Jareth explained as if he was commenting on the weather.

"What challenge are we putting forward then?"

"That's simple, I'm actually not supposed to tell you before hand though. Unless you really want us to play the villains?"

"No we are the heroes of this play, we just were able to trick the villain into being foolish and monologue so we could escape." Toby said letting his bag rest beside him.

Jareth soon took wing once again as the carriages came to a stop. The other second years and up tromped up to the castle, Toby mentioned to a Prefect he wouldn't be in the hall right away and would be back and took off.

The stone bathrooms worked brilliantly for drawing doors, it was just a hassle if someone happened to unlock the stall you drew the door on when you came back. Once back into Jareth's Labyrinth he quickly switched out of the wizard robes into some old style he would have guessed jester outfit, his own gloves on thankfully. His items in a pouch and his wand in a little holster on the side he approached the stone stadium that Ludo had erected over the last few days. Jareth, Gringotts, and Rashad were up in the King's Both waiting for the festivities to start. Hundred of other goblins and Lords were situated around the coliseum.

There was a little hourglass next to the metal portcullis showing he had just a few minutes left. He checked over his items once again and waited for the trumpet to sound. As they blasted what felt like hours later, the portcullis lift and he stepped out onto the grounds.

Across from him stood a grown man, a wand already in his hand and looking for the challenge at hand. His robes where shabby, and heavily worn, a look of intelligence and cunning in those eyes, but also a sense of something primal underneath. He also carried a satchel and like Toby after seeing no other immediate threat they looked to the Kings.

Jareth stood and looked down upon the champions.

"Gentlemen! The first battle is of wits and skill. Both of you have wands, and the knowledge bereft of another being. Use these wisely. You shall both choose a creature for the other to face alone. Once you have defeated your own task you must defeat the one you set your rival to prove that it is possible. Who ever complete first, or completes at all is the victor. Our protection will save you if you come too close to the veil of death and you will have lost the round." Jareth said and clapped his hands. A glass sphere appeared in each hand and he tossed them down to the Champions. Each took the sphere and whispered a word into before tossing it to the other.

Toby's plan had been simple. He would choose a dangerous creature that he could easily dispatch himself with his own tools. As he had silver gloves and dagger he would summon a werewolf during the full moon. They seemed to be fairly resistant to magic then, only really being hurt by physical or silver means. This wizard wouldn't know what to do against such a creature.

A cloud of smoke appeared as the crystal Toby's rival sent over cracked. From it Urdrog appeared brandishing his hammer. Toby was confused, he had to dispatch his teacher?

"Toby! You fool! You think that little dainty penknife or gloves are anything compared to what we make? I told Jareth he was a fool to let you play with our toys, and your accomplishment proves me right! You haven't made a decent goblin silver item a day you've been with us." He started to tear into Toby. Pointing out any little flaw in his design, or change from plans that Toby had thought were an improvement. Toby felt tears started to come to his eyes when he reached into his bag and pulled out his Dagger.

"This, this right here proves I could do it! You said you didn't think a wizard could forge real goblin silver but I have one right here. It stood up to all your test and is still as sharp as anything you ever made!" Toby said screaming at him as tears started to fall. The fog enveloped Urdrog and vanished. Toby had thought he won for the moment when he felt a tapping on his shoulder.

"Come now Toby. You didn't really think I would choose you for my champion?" Jareth said with the demeaning smile, and eyes that looked at you and wondered why you were still talking. "I small, sniveling, crying little boy couldn't really be a Goblin King. This was all just a game like the one I played with your sister so long ago. I doesn't mean nothing, just like you don't matter."

"What? But… Jareth." Toby barely made out as he was assaulted with words again.

"I let your sister get through the labyrinth because I didn't want to keep you. I send you to my lesser goblins every chance I get because I don't want to deal with another sniveling, little lost child that there family gave up. You were the last charity case I took, and I already regret it with what's left of my heart." Toby stumbled back, he barely put his dagger back in his bag before tripping over his own feet.

"I'm your prince, you helped me forge these gloves!" he said holding them in front of himself like a shield. Jareth looked at both and started to do his mocking laugh.

"There simple orb I made myself so you'd feel better and get out of my hair." He said as he turned away from Toby. "Go ahead and leave now. Your services are no longer needed from this point on." Toby looked like he had been struck. He slowly got to his feet and started to walk back to the portcullis.

Right before he stepped out he stopped. With out turning he asked.

"This match is still real isn't it." He said quietly. He turned and saw Jareth walking away, ignoring his question.

"This match is still real! I will be damned if I worked this hard to be shut out of this world!" Toby yelled back. He turned and ran over tackling Jareth from behind and they rolled around struggling for a few moments before Jareth was trapped under an emotionally unstable little boy.

"I'll win this tournament still, and I'll get the prize. Even if you don't want me here I'll still become a Goblin King and make you respect what I did to get there!" Toby himself didn't notice when he brought his wand to bare.

"Get off me you foolish little boy and go home."

"Wit without measure is mans greatest treasure. You are not Jareth." Toby said and rolled off of him. Jareth shifted before his eyes into his fellow champion. He dusted himself off and stood up looking down at Toby with pity.

"You don't know who I am or what I am capable of. I just defeated that werewolf of yours, and it took me only one spell to conquer the creature I sent against you. Your too young for this tournament and the next round your precious king will kneel before Gringotts because you aren't good enough." This shabby looking wizards said. His hair was short and kind of wild, and still eluded a strong air of menace. It was like talking to a wolf that found you in the woods.

"How did you beat it so quickly? And what did you send against me?" Toby said standing up and putting his wand away. Another of the shabby wizard appeared behind the one he talked to and leveled a wand.

"_Riddikulus_!" he cried. The boggart didn't have time to turn to the new threat and change before he turned small into a little snoopy looking dog and vanished as his rival champion started to laugh.

Toby looked around confused as he heard the gong sound. The match was over.

Toby had failed the first competition.


	4. Chapter 4

"Boy, what is your name?" The shabby looking wizard asked him as Toby tried to make sense of what just happened.

"Toby Williams, Prince of the Labyrinth."

"I was under the impression that Goblins couldn't use wands."

"They can't. Like you I'm a wizard."

"A fairly young one at that. Are you related to Robert Williams?" He said still holding his wand at the ready.

"Yes, he's my father." Toby held his head high trying to make sure this man knew he was proud of this fact.

"Does your Father know you're a Death Eater?"

"A what! The nerve of you! I maybe Slytherin but I'll have you know I never go near the dark arts!"

"Then why you trying to gather Goblin to join with You-Know-Who?" he asked quizilled. He didn't believe this young boy yet, but there was an air about him that you could almost trust. He didn't want to buy into it though.

"Is that what Gringotts told you? Believe that hook line and sinker did you? This battle has nothing to do with the wizard wars! It's a grudge match between two head goblins about past misdeeds! Boy have they took you for a loop." His rival kept his wand in hand but let it fall to the side after he conjured a pair of chairs. After offering Toby one they both sat.

"I was under the impression that all the goblins worked for Gringotts. According to our history the goblin who found the bank died over two hundred years ago."

"There a secrecy act like the wizards got that says we can't talk about our leaders. But believe me there a lot more the just Gringotts. We were watched in this fight by at least three. You should have already know this type of stuff when you became a champion."

"Can I ask you a personal question?"

"You did ask a few already but what about?"

"Do you fear werewolves? I noticed you sent one after me."

"Werewolves? Not especially. I figured there kind of hard to deal with, unless you have the proper tools and I already have silver with me." Toby offered pulling out the dagger. He handed to the other champion cautiously and watch him very closely as he looked it over. Wizards were known for stealing goblins things.

"A very fine weapon, you should keep it close." He said as he handed it back.

"Could you tell me what you sent after me?" Toby asked, he would have looked it up, but searching based on abilities a creature possessed took a lot longer then by name.

"Well I'm guessing that your schools been a bit lax, but I sent a boggart. There a surprising number of witches and wizards that just can't handle there style of magic." The rival champion looked over as Jareth was walking over to the spot there were sitting. Toby stood immediately looking crestfallen as his defeat finally started to sink in.

"Well whether you believe my intention or not, I do look forward to the next round of our match." He offered his hand to shake. "By the way, I didn't catch your name."

"I'm Remus Lupin." He said as he shook the young boys hand. He watched the boys eyes light up.

"Your Harry Potters Werewolf friend! I've never met a real werewolf before no wonder you made such short work of my choice!" He said positively beaming. Remus was a little shocked about such a warm welcome upon hearing his 'furry little problem'.

"Its time to go Toby, we have things to discuss and prepare for. Good night Mr. Lupin." Jareth said with little sarcasm as he put a hand on Toby shoulder and steered him away from the arena. Lupin turned the other way and started to look for Gringotts.

_...-~-…_

"Your not playing me false are you Grintoll? The boy claims this is a dispute between goblins." Lupin said sitting in an arm chair at the Gringotts bank. The walls normal never seen by customers had heavy blankets hiding away the treasure that sat on the walls. The desk 'Grintoll' sat at was strangely completely without adorations.

"Lupin, you should be more prepared of deception by You-Know-Who's followers. If he had his way they would take over the bank and open our vaults to help bankroll his followers." Gringotts said reclining in his goblin size chair.

"Quiet understandable and it was my first instinct, but I didn't believe He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was recruiting such young boys. Or are you using me as overkill in your little competition?" Lupin didn't make any visible notice of the sneakascope buried deep in his robes that kept trying to start up when Grintoll was talking.

"I'm giving you the chance to help change the tide in this war Mr. Lupin. What else this may effect I do not believe is your concern. I thank you for your help this time, but I'd like to conclude this meeting. I'll contact you in preparation for our next challenge." Remus was surprised that all of that was true as his lie detector didn't go off even with the oil words 'Grintoll' spouted.

After Lupin said his farewells and left Gringotts made a beckoning motion and three goblins appeared from behind the curtains. All three came forward and dropped to a knee in subversion immediately.

"I want you to take shifts watching our champion. He has already signed a contract, but I don't want him contacting this Toby outside of the competition. If he does, bring him back here immediately." The three looked up with evil grins that would make an imp proud.

_...-~-…_

Toby's escapades thanks to the goblin magic hadn't taken nearly as long as he thought. The great hall was still filled with people and the deserts hadn't been sent up yet. Nobody mentioned his absence, he wasn't like Harry Potter who many where talking about his no show.

The professor's table had Snape in the headmasters spot, and the old witch that was supposed to take Sarah's spot was replaced with an older ill tempered red head. Toby asked a few housemates and found that Alectro Carrow was the new Muggle Studies Professor as well as new Deputy Headmistress. Her brother Amycus Carrow farther down the table was the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher.

Toby started to make plans for this school year as he listened in on whatever gossip he could. Most of it was pointless drivel as a lot of conjecture on how long before Harry Potter walked in late again, or if they thought the Dark Lord was out looking for him, depending on if there parents were Death Eaters or not.

Toby's plans where much different, he had to get a chance to talk to Snape at some point and see what they could orchestrate to help one another. Snape no longer had any allies around, and Toby already decided that he wasn't keen on Voldemort being supreme ruler of the Wizarding world. Though backing Harry Potter wasn't really something he wanted to put a lot of faith on. The stories he heard led Toby to believe that it was mostly luck, and talented friends that he knew how to use to the greatest extent. When he came against Voldemort, unless he had an army backing him, Toby was going to bet he would lose.

The opening dinner ended without much aplomb, Snape gave a speech and reminders on the dangers of the Dark Forest and late night strolls, as well as introduction of new teachers. The _Prefect_ did there duty moving all the students to there dormitories and finally to rest for the night. Toby despite the extra sleep he got on the train felt drained after his near miss with a boggart and passed out quickly.

_...-~-…_

The first free day Toby was already out wandering the halls, he had just picked up a new cloak from the Smithies in the labyrinth as his old one had become to tattered after his over use. Toby found himself in front of the Room of Requirement. Finding out how to get in had been a bit of adventure. He dropped hints about it to other housemates but no one took the bait. He had to actually go see the House Elves in the kitchen and tricked an eccentric one named Dobby to explain how to get in.

'I want all the Goblin made items you posses on display and easily accessible in a comfortable room when I enter." He thought as he walked back and forth the three times needed to open the door. As Dobby had told him the third pass revealed a door and he entered.

Toby was in shock as he stepped inside. This room went all out for him. Appearing as a simpler form of the smithies shop from the labyrinth. The fires were already stoked and anvil sat waiting. As Toby searched around in the familiar heat he couldn't find any material to forge with. No bar or ingot laid about to his disappointment, but he did find a manikin that had a pair of goblin silver boots, and a tiara.

Toby was a little leery about wearing a tiara, but it was something he was going to half to deal with as he put it on and thanked the room for putting no mirrors in here. Searching out a workbench with a stool he pulled his book of many book from his pack and started in on his homework and study of future lesson plans.

_...-~-…_

Professor Snape walked up the long winding steps that lead to the Headmaster room. Upon entering he pulled his wand out and with a small wave the room started to tidy itself up as he had left many of his projects sitting out when he went to see about the Carrows methods. It was something he couldn't really stop, not in keep face for his position but he would help prevent more students from being sent to them if he could.

It had been a trying time for Severus as with his promised to help Dumbledore end his life left him bereft of any aid from the Order members not that he would admit to needing them, but also now he still tried to slow down the fellow Death Eaters plan while trying to make this small diversion legitimate concerns.

Snape knew he was getting warn out and soon would have to take a break or he would slip up when he realized he missed his visitor. Swiping his wand as he took his seat the hidden student fell over petrified.

Snape was fairly surprised to see Toby half concealed under a cloak of invisibility. Toby had been fairly impressive the previous year, and hadn't been doing anything to get into trouble. Severus figured this was about to change. He muttered the counter curse and then motioned with his wand to the chair in front of him.

"Well I would normally find this kind of offense punishable by expelling, but as the ministry has decreed all young wizards must attend school I could go for detentions. I hear the Dark Arts students are starting to get a hang of the Cruciatus Curse." He said as he pulled the form out of his desk, waving his wand over it the ink started to pen in.

"You might want to wait a moment Headmaster, this is meeting is a little bigger then something as simple as school." Hearing this Snape did stop halfway through writing Williams. Snape finally looked up to see Toby sitting there with his school bags with a rich dark forest green pair of gloves on, that had silver thread embroidering some kind of image on the back of his hand. Snape ignored this giving Toby his full attention.

"Breaking into this office is a difficult feat, and as you're barely halfway through your first semester of your second year I believe you maybe right." Snape looked over the office to see if there was anything else he may have missed. The headmasters paintings were all paying rapt attention after hearing Toby.

"Very good. Last year I had been in some correspondence with Dumbledore's plans. I know what really happened that night, and see that you are cut off from any allies. I'm offering my help in exchange for yours."

"What help could you offer me Mr. Williams? There are several Death Eater stationed through the school waiting to hear my word." Snape was leaning forward on his desk keeping an aura of calm indifference as he mentally began to worry about what this boy may know. Had Dumbledore betrayed his trust after all?

"This is not a game of cat in mouse!" Toby nearly shouted letting some of his anger betray him. Finding a way into here without setting off any of the alarms had been tiring, especially with keeping up with the power play and school work. "I am in a position to possibly bring the strength of three full Goblin Hosts against the Dark Lord, but I need someone like you to help me figure out how to get this done."

"It would be unwise to speak of such things to me boy."

"Don't tell me you have Faith that this Harry Potter will be capable of defeating him. I want something more reassuring, and if you could help train me Half-Blood Prince then I know we can do what the chosen one could not." Toby was standing now infront of the desk trying to get his point across. The Diadem was sitting in his bag, and this was another one of those times that he wished he could have worn in openly. The Carrow twin girls thought that it had been lost again.

"What did Dumbledore tell you?" Snape asked after what felt like an eternity to Toby. Toby sat his bag on the ground next to him and returned to his seat.

"He told me very little, but I was able to have a couple of goes at his Pensieve. Afterwards he answered a few of my questions and kindly asked me to butt out. I didn't have the resources last year so agreed. Now I'm better prepared." Snape looked like he might have swallowed something foul when he realized that this boy might know his agreement with Dumbledore.

"How will you be able to mobilize a host of goblins? I understood they were remaining neutral."

"I could explain to you, but we will have to be in agreement to trust each other. I keep your secret, you keep mine. This will have to be the way cause I'll probably also need you to teach me oclumous ma bober." Toby stumbled over the enunciation of the mind readying skill and bringing his age back into the equation.

"Occlumency is what I believe you are referring to."

"Never heard it said before." A small laugh trying to lighten his mistake.

"Unless you are extraordinarily talented, I doubt you will be capable of that kind of magic."

"I would still like to try. After learning Defensive arts, and potion making from just your notes I have the utmost confidence in your skills."

"What do you mean by my notes?"

"I found this in the Room of Requirement. I noticed the handwriting matched the notes you wrote on our papers last year." He pulled what looked like a new copy of Advanced Potion making out of bag and set it down. Severus picked it up and started to thumb through it at all his old work.

"Potter hid it in the Room of Requirement…" he said almost to himself before setting it back down.

"Please if you like keep it. I have already made a copy of your wonderful additions for myself." Toby said looking pleased.

Snape stood up. When Toby began to speak to motioned for silence and walked over to the portrait of Dumbledore and began to talk quietly with him. Toby always listening could only hear a buzzing white noise from them. Deciding to wait for his private conversation to be over, didn't use the counter curse. The conversation was nearly five minutes long before he turned back to Toby.

"We will get into more details during our lessons. Saturday nights at 8 pm." Snape said. He didn't let his emotions show one way or the other. He knew if Toby was hiding anything he would find it when they started Occlumency that night. Toby stood up picking his bag up and pulling on his cloak. He had a big grin on his face before it was hidden under the cloak.

"Thank you very much, sir." He bowed while invisible and went to the door. Just before he closed it he called back. "Oh, by the way; despite the markings that sword isn't real. Someone must have duped Dumbledore." Then he was down the stairs.

_...-~-…_

Toby was laying on the floor before Jareth throne holding his head. His gloves and boots were off to the side and his bag had fallen open letting half its content partially fall out. The normal rabble and good cheer had been ordered away as Toby had a headache.

"I swear I didn't know my brain could hurt so bad." Jareth looked amused as he gazed upon his heir. "I mean with his help I'm excelling so much faster then other student my age. The man is a genius, and with the diadem I'm picking it up as if it second nature. Even the wand work isn't as hard as it was before." Toby had expressed his view that items that acted like magic was his preference to actually casting. Toby had let his hair grow out and was now wearing the diadem on the back side of his head underneath the nearly shoulder length hair. If someone actually ran there hands through his blonde untidy hair they would find it, but thankfully it blended rather well with his pale hair color. Little bit of magic also helped.

"I'm all glad for you, but you still have to win the next two matches. What have you learned about this Remus?" Jareth asked as he lazily tossed four different sphere around himself, letting them roll along his arms and hand.

"Well he was Order of the Phoenix, which means that hes against Voldemort like us. Remember Ol'Voldy will probably wipe out goblins as soon as they openly refuse him so he is a bad guy." Toby pulled the pensieve near him and started siphoning away important thoughts for later. "He's a werewolf, and was a teacher of Defense against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts just a few years ago. Thankfully I still have the old defense book and keeping it up as a separate study. I just finally cover those stupid boggarts."

"My little Toby, even if this is a good man, Gringotts has him fooled. We have to win the next two confrontations."

"Do you have the next one planned?"

"That I do, I'm merely waiting for his next challenge."

"Its been months since the last one! I'm going back. I have homework to do." He said as he gathered up his things and made to set out.

"You didn't always used to leave. You can do your homework here."

"Thanks, but I'll let the goblins get back to the party. I'll find somewhere quiet, or maybe find a Ravenclaw to study with." He said with a laugh. The other houses had grown somehow more defensive against Slytherin students. None would purposely speak with many of them if they could help it.

He made a dash for the Room of Requirement once inside the castle proper once more. He didn't bring his supplies for smithing with him. With the larger workload he took on his work on his armor had slowed to a crawl. The boots were of great quality but he had to make a deal with the rightful owner to take true possession of them. You see there were already top of the line crafting, he just had to make a few additional enchantments and etches to make them proper for a king. His hauberk was coming along slower then anything he had worked on before. Not only was it bigger, the chain portions of the shirt more intricate, but he was already working on fourth year material and just didn't have the time now.

The room was more like his personal place to relax and get things done. After he learned about the dual-mind enchantment on the Diadem he took to keeping many long mirrors in the room. Toby was seated at a desk, his book in front as he started to go over the work Slughorn assigned (he had already mastered the work, but it had felt like ages ago). He looked up to the mirror image of him. His image unlike him, was twirling a fake galleon they had found when rummaging through the 'random catalogue' of things they room could produce. Rumors said that Dumbledore's Army had used something like this two year ago, but so far the notes that had been passed by it he felt weren't very important.

"Our armor is more important then this wand work. Anything we learn, that wolf is probably already going to know it. He doesn't have access to our kind of armor, this is our advantage." Mirror said trying to once again convey his sound reasoning.

"He beat us last time cause we weren't prepared for a simple boggarts. I won't be defeated again by the same likes. We already have a few pieces, with Severus help we now also have a small collection of potions that can help."

"Getting very body, body with the headmaster. Remember what could happen if 'He' decides Snape is no long worth anything?"

"We all have choices to make. Snape will pull through. Have you come up with anything for Potter?"

"Snape still believe what Dumbledore said. Potter will have to face him at the right time, and only they will be able to finish each other off."

"I'm sure Potter is looking for those Horcruxes right now. We just have to kill him when he finishes the task and then the Dark Lord will be vulnerable."

"Why don't you take a rest, I'll do the school work for now." The mirror said. Toby shook his head and looked down at his ten inch essay on how to gather ingredients for wands from various animals. It was about an inch long before he seemed to have just started doodling plans for his helm.

"I think your right. I'm out of it." He put the quill down and covered his eyes with his palms. Though nothing physical seemed to happen, Toby sat up straighter and didn't look as tired. The mirror image laid its head down on the table and started to snooze.

"Killing Harry Potter is defiantly part of the plan." The portion of soul from the diadem fixed there hair to hide the diadem better before getting up and leaving Toby to sleep on his side of the mirror.


	5. Chapter 5

Toby woke feeling well rested though his body was sore. He was sticky as if he had spent most of the day at the smithy and hadn't taken a shower before passing out. Slowly standing and trying to stretch enough to get rid of the kinks he realized he hadn't been to the smithy's at all in the last week. Quickly taking stock of everything he noticed he had slept with the Diadem on. Quietly stowing it in his trunk he went to go clean up.

As Toby showered he thought back over the last few weeks. This wasn't the first time he remembered waking up like this. He could recall studying and then just blanking out. He didn't recall coming back to the common room, or strangely what day today was.

That was quickly remedied with a few light conversations with fellow pit vipers. It was Saturday. Despite the ache he realized that he did need to work on his armor again. Taking a look through the homework piles and finding there were all caught up on already he took off to the labyrinth.

"Back again so soon? I thought you'd be asleep for the winter!" Urdrog said as he welcomed him back. Toby was confused but tried to hide it not to let on that anything maybe wrong. Was someone impersonating him?

"Just wanted to get back to work that's all."

"No wine this time? The elf-made stuff was delicious my boy. If you can ever get your hands on another bottle." He said with a devious grin as he showed him inside and to his nearly complete chest piece. As Toby ran his hands across it looking it over it felt like a dream when he made it. Like something that he had forgotten about a long, long time ago. His Diadem was in his bag next to the entrance and it was one of the few times in months that he left it off.

"Master Urdrog, how often have I been working on this for the last few weeks?"

"Id reckon you been here about two or three times a week. Pulling all nighters even with all the school work boy. I swear you keep yourself as busy as a House elf."

"So many things running together… What do I need to do to finish it?"

"Dunking it in the potion, which still isn't ready. You want to work on the greaves for now then?"

"Greaves?' Toby couldn't help but act surprised as he found them over half finished as well.

"Yeah. They could still use some work. We can't dunk them like that! The potion would corrode the metal in only a few seconds." He said running his hand along the metal. Toby pulled them off the manikin like it was muscle memory and got to work before he would have his lesson with Snape.

_...-~-…_

Headmaster Snape was pacing back and forth in his study. It was still five minutes before the Toby boy would arrive but he was looking forward to there study sessions. Snape hadn't found such an adept and willing pupil in all the years he served at Hogwarts. Not to mention the outside ramification his pupil brought to the table. The boy acted most like a goblin wielding a wand in his approach, as Snape noticed him referring to himself as one when taking stances in political views.

With this Jareth character preparing him to become a 'Goblin King' someday it was quite understandable. Even with his own searching he found no trace of any legitimate explanation of such titles. The boys training against Legilimency was coming along much faster then he had thought was possible. He hadn't been able to protect anything the first few times, but over the last few week he was able to block more and more. At this rate by the end of the year he would be immune to such magics.

The boy was also not a fan of Harry Potter, he seem to have made a vendetta against him that was unfounded by any reason. Toby seemed to be against the idea of prophecies and like Severus himself, believe he didn't posses the talent.

Dumbledore still had made it quite clear that Harry would have to die at the right moment, and that so far had been his and Toby's only disagreement. Snape was trying to play it as a master play based in magic, but he himself didn't understand the magic that Dumbledore set in motions thus he wasn't able to explain it to Toby any better himself.

_Knock, Knock._

"Enter."

Toby stepped inside, his pale blonde hair so reminiscent of Draco's was worn lose and barely cared for as seem to become his custom. The earlier practices showed that this was also for a reason, almost everything he did was for some reason or advantage in the future, but at the time Snape had not search for the reason and was now unsure if he could pull that specific bit from his mind if he tried without causing great harm.

"Headmaster Snape." He said bowing.

"Well then Mr Williams, tonight I felt we should devote our time to countering unwelcome spells."

"I'd be delighted, but I would also like to know, what could you tell me about Silent spells, or wandless casting?" Snape moved across the classroom from Toby as there wasn't enough room in his office for some of the practice. He waited a moment before cast a tongue tying hex on the boy silently.

"PROTEGO!" Snape hadn't seen a wand in his hand, but there it was building a formidably protective shield in front of him. Toby's aim wasn't good enough to rebound such spells yet, but shielding was often enough. Toby lowered his wand hand after a moment, though never relaxing his grip.

"Silent spells are performed the same as normal spells, but instead of the verbal incantation, you must draw the same magic out of a pattern you create in your mind. The words are the form of the magic we draw upon, the wand itself is the focus; multiplying our potential dozens of times before pushing it into the pattern that is normally our words." Toby nodded as he set his wand on a nearby desk. Snape wasn't sure if he expected to still cause a strong enough shield without it but they began again.

This boy once again did amazing results. After half a dozen tries he still wasn't able to make a shield strong enough to protect against the weakest hexes, but he did use an accio spell to draw his wand back to his hand in time to protect himself. In a normal duel he wouldn't have enough time, but with practice he may be able to pull it off.

Toby's tries at silent spell casting were dismal. Snape tried to reassure him after over a dozen failed attempts that most students didn't practice it until there sixth year, and then many still couldn't perform them well.

"I know sixth years practice it…"

"You are already performing better then many of our fourth years; there will be some things that are out of your reach for the time being. The simple spell work you can do without a wand is already a feat that many adult wizards do not posses. You should be proud of your current skill." Snape said. Toby did seem to visibly become more confident as they continued.

"You think Potter has figured out the Horcruxes by now?" Toby asked as they exchanged attacking and blocking. Toby was working on the spell control itself that he could redirect or even counter the spell as they were cast. Snape wasn't going full force to give Toby spells he had a chance against.

"I have utmost faith in Albus's plan Toby. I'm sure they are gathering as we speak. The Dark Lord hasn't mentioned anything about them, and as long as it stays that way I imagine they are doing there job."

"So you passed them the Sword of Godric Gryffindor then?" Toby said with almost a sneer to his voice.

"Just over a month ago as we discussed. The silver will be able to destroy the Horcruxes they find as you explained to me." Snape responded ignoring the tone. Toby had made it clear that he wanted to return it to the goblins in a previous practice session.

"If only some of the venom in was still available. My dagger would greatly benefit from that addition. Another weapon that can put down the Dark Lord." Snape thought about it for a moment, nearly missing the block before calling for wands away.

"There maybe a way..."

It was later then they had planned to be out. Toby was carrying a black boa constrictor Snape had shown him how to summon with the use of a spell called Serpensortia. It was nearly seven feet long and seemed fairly calm animal as they stood in the girls bathroom.

"Imperious." Snape said pointing his hand at the snake. The snake shivered for a moment before letting out several hisses. The sink and surrounding objects moved aside and opened down into a long dark passage. Both moved down it quickly as not to be followed. It took a few minutes for them to clear away most of the debris as it seemed the place had mostly caved in at some point before they found the main chamber, with a large mess of dead flesh peeling away and slowly rotting.

"I had imagined it would be more decomposed then this by now…" Toby said as he approached the body. Snape sat a few step back holding a handkerchief crossed his mouth.

"I believe this area is magically protected. The snake such a long time part of it, must be receiving some of its protection, but I don't think I want to let it rot down here forever. Pull a fang." Snape commanded and Toby obeyed.

The top of the tooth had a small notch with what looked like black ink inside. Toby wedged the point of the fang into the ground and placed his dagger tip to the point and began to hammer it in with blast from spells.

While Toby worked at that, Snape went to work removing large section and magicing them into bottles, as well as rending all but the skeleton to dust. He was disappointed the eyes had been so badly mangled with how strong they could be for potion ingredients.

Toby cracked the fang unveiling a line of black ink like fluid that he was carful not to touch as he ran the blade down the rivet. The ink slowly vanished as the blade of his dagger took on a darker almost black color before fading back to proper silver.

"Thank you so much Headmaster I'd-" he started as they heard what sounded like boot walking along the stone near the entrance. Both quietly pulled there hiding about them. Toby pulled his cloak, Snape silently cast a disillusion charm on himself.

Jareth walked into the light with a pair of ruby lenses old style glasses. He flashed a smile like he was a rockstar at them before settling his gaze where Toby was standing.

"Well, well, well, I meet the great Headmaster Severus Snape. Toby has told me so much about you, and what almost sounds like the legendary level of skills you have." He said with a small clap. "Don't mean to be interrupting, but apparently this entire cavern area is sealed from outside interference and I desperately need to have a talk with my good friend Toby here." He said waving his hand towards Toby, and sounding urgent.

"Has there been a challenge?" Toby pulled off his invisibility cloak, quickly stuffing it into his bag and moving to Jareth. Snape moved forward as well, not bothering to drop the charm even though he knew they could both see him.

"Yes, we have very little time now. Urdrog should be nearly done with the corrosion dip on your armor pieces. We must hurry to get there in time now." Jareth held his hand out to Toby, straight up and down. Toby took it and with a parting wave to Snape he was holding onto a large owl that took flight.

Snape summon the serpent and made his way back up to the bathroom, closing the door once again. Moaning Myrtle was watching him, but he cast a memory charm when she went for the plumbing, before making his way out of the room.

"Good luck Toby. No more mistakes now."

_...-~-…_

Toby barely caught his footing when he was dropped inside the throne room. Several goblins stripped away his clothes and fitted him with cushioned under armor before placing several of his own goblin forged items on him. A cloak that had many pouches and loops on the inside held his readied potions and many of his things that normally resided in his bag. He didn't even get a chance to look at himself in the mirror before Jareth lifted him in his bird form and dropped him next to the champions entrance to the coliseum. Toby ran through the few doors and got to the exit just in time to see the portcullis finish opening. He ran out the door to find a large stone wall.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, tonight challenge will be an age old game that I am well known for. Our Champion are positioned outside a labyrinth. The rules are simple. The first to reach the center is victorious." He held two orbs out to Gringotts. Each was a starting point outside the maze and depending which Gringotts picked, Remus would start there. Grabbing the left one he chucked it at the spinning labyrinth.

"Let the games begin!" Gringotts bellowed out to the crowd as Toby and Remus ran to find the entrance.

_...-~-…_

Remus stepped forward and contemplated the maze immediately. From what he was able to gather from Grintoll, Jareth was a maze builder, ever crafting challenging puzzles to warp the mind and change people perspectives. His masterpiece was bringing a muggles drawing of a room of stairs to life. Intrigued Remus looked up the picture and tried to imagine such a place in three dimensions. If this labyrinth has any where near as much work put into it, the structure alone could be dangerous.

His first problem became readily shown. How to get in?

There didn't seem to be any doors, and the walls didn't deviate more then three different patterns that didn't bear any doors. A flick of the wrist proved that straight damage spells like reducto didn't blow open holes.

Kneeling down he took a careful look along the edges for any deviations. When none could be found he moved down the wall nearly twenty feet. The time his search showed that the floor immediately beyond the entrance was made to appear as the lower part of the wall and from where he had stood before it looked like a true wall. Upon finding this he made his way inside.

The path led left and right. At least to keep his bearings a wand using the four point spell would show that the path behind him was North, so he had to venture south. Without any early look at the maze he wasn't sure if his part of the maze could intersect with Roberts son's.

Choosing right Remus quickened his pace. The choice seem useless as it only lead to a dead end that he guessed was a corner of the labyrinth. Turning around he when back the other direction passing by the entrance he eventually came to another dead end.

"This goblin wouldn't have been so crazy as to put no actual path to the center would he? How would anyone ever complete it…?" Lupin slowly turned around and closed his eyes. The first obstacle was an optical illusion, perhaps the turns where the same. Using his wand to conjure a walking stick to him he began his path back. The stick was pressed against the wall so that when he passed an opening he would feel the stick pass through. To his delight no more then ten feet from the entrance he found the door leading to a different path.

To keep up better pace, Remus conjured a thick fog the spread nearly ten feet in every direction from him that never got more then ankle high. It showed each turn as he neared as the fog started to move down the length.

His path even with his clever spell work lead to a dead end. The only thing before him was two he guessed fake doors with animal head hanging out from behind shields. He stepped forward and out of simple frustration at this turn of events leveled his wand at them read to at least crumble them to dust when they all hid there head behind the shield.

"That's not the way to get by us!"

"Yeah! It's in the rules!"

"You have to ask a question."

"Then you can pick a door!"

Remus put down his wand looking at the four head as they all spoke in turn. This was not a magical creature he was familiar with. There must be a large selection in the home realms of each of the goblin families he thought to himself.

"Which of these door lead to the center of the labyrinth?"

"Also in the rules."

"You can only ask one of us."

"And just to warn ya, one of us always tells the truth."

"And one of us always lies."

With how they talked Remus was wondering if there where four creature or just two standing behind the shield. Asking would waste his question, but deciding without that knowledge could be useless as he ask one that isn't bound by either of those rules.

He took a moment to calm himself and decide on the proper course of action. His best bet was to go with that they where just two creatures, and it was an age old question like the one he heard as a boy about which broomstick was cursed, and talking to the brothers that always lied or told the truth depending on which you asked.

"Okay then. You, would he tell me the door behind you leads to the center of the Labyrinth?"

"Um…" he poked his head behind the shield talking to the other head before comeing back out and saying. "No."

"Then I'll be going through this door then." He said moving to pull back on the one he asked.

"What if he was telling the truth!"

"Then you would have to have been lying." He said before ducking past the door. The stone floor immediately after it fell away on his first step and he was barely able to get a gravity reorienting charm into place. He was slowly able to make his way down the tunnel that was to short for him standing, and if he let to much of himself hang away from the wall the charm my let him fall anyway as the worlds gravity over rid his magic.

After another several minutes he wasted like this he made it out and reversed the charm landing back on his feet. Looking around he found what seemed like the many hallways from before, so using the same fog trick he made his way down the path again. After several more turn and constantly using the four point spell he realized that it wasn't reliable.

The wand as he held it steady in the four point spell slowly rotated. Either the magic of the place was corrupting the reading from the wand, or the entire labyrinth was slowly turning. Unable to figure out which way the center was anymore he just kept following the paths.

A few more turns brought him face to face with a sphinx. He nearly cried in relief actually recognizing a threat for once in this jigsaw maze. She was calmly staring at him seated in the middle of the passage. She smiled looking to him.

"Well good sphinx, lets hear your riddle." He asked good naturedly. He was a decent hand at riddles, and he could always find another path if he didn't know it. She nodded her head before nearly singing in a beautiful voice.

"_What has roots as nobody sees, Is taller then the trees_

_Up, up it goes, And yet never grows?"_

"I see your master is rather found of riddle style traps. Could I please hear the riddle again?" she nodded repeating it several times until he could repeat verbatim.

"Roots… many different plants, and some magical beast have roots. Mandrake, well I guess it's still considered a plant. But this thing is taller then trees. It keeps going up, but is never actually growing…" he leaned against the wall. "Tonk would know this one I bet. Her mother keeps a large collection of old time riddles at there home." He looked up to the sphinx, bowed and retreated going down the other path he has seen. This way lead quite a distance before take a few turns. He saw another opening up ahead when he heard something clanking with metal go by along the next path and the sound of spells being cast from both side of the fight. Was there other wizard in the labyrinth meant to try and knock them out of the fight?

This path lead to an opening that showed the prize at the center. As he moved forwards parts of the walls closed quickly, revealing what had been two metal half statues formed into one large metal construct. The being seemed to leek steam, but was nearly ten feet tall, with large shields covering most of its body and large broadswords in each hand.

"Well that is a little unexpected after the other things in here." Remus whispered as it swung its swords in an overhand motion. Remus cast a disillusion charm on himself as he ducked out of the way. Whatever it was that guided this being vision wasn't fooled by the charm as he turned and started attack with haste. Remus had only seen the like before when McGonagall demonstrated the statue protection to all the teacher before each year of school to make sure they were ready if the school needed to be defended.

Reducto, disarming, and leg lock jynxs seemed to glance off the armored hide, and even once nearly reflected at Remus as he cast like mad against it. Trying to find some spell that wouldn't glance off that pristine helm. He tried to summon the helm off, or vanish it, freeze it in place, and straight stun it. None of the spells had any visible effect.

Thinking his new plan was a bit of a death wish he use agumenti to cover the ground with water and then froze it. The metal golem was stuck in place for the moment, but Remus could already hear the ice cracking as it started to break the bindings on it. Quickly his slid towards it, passing the oncoming blade and then underneath it before spelling his feet to catch grip on ice. He stopped himself and jump onto the golems back. With how the armor sat across the shoulders it couldn't readily attack behind it. Then he started to manually pull the helm off.

The helm was stuck really well, but it did come off. Inside he saw a goblin pulling on several levers and had earmuffs with some kind of cord hanging out of them and plugged into the golem. The Goblin finally looked up, sneered and went for a button that had a large lighting bolt looking symbol on it. Remus quickly stunned the Goblin before he could push the button. A wave of his wand now seemed to help it fall without any more harm before he stood up and brushed himself off.

"She's never going to believe that one." He said thinking to his Nymphodora back home. He grimaced a bit also thinking of the words Harry brandished at him during the last meeting and how right they had been.

Pushing that aside he looked to the wall that had closed unleashing the metal golem on him and watched as the door slowly opening, revealing his prize.


	6. Chapter 6

"Lead me to the entrance." Toby whispered to his dagger as he approached the exterior walls. He had spent years exploring the labyrinths Jareth created that he believed he would have the advantage here. His dagger already proving right. The point led quickly to the entrance that his eyes just didn't see.

Lupin was an adept wizard with year of experience, and one of Harry's mentors. Albus, and many others in there order had put great amounts of faith in him. Toby would not underestimate the skills he brought to this competition.

Several paths later, his first obstacle appeared. A little girl was kneeling in the middle of his path, crying by the sounds of it. She had long black hair that surrounded her like a curtain, her features completely masked by the strands. She was turned away, and the hair swept the ground as she rocked from her cries.

"Oh boy…" Toby let out a deep breath and slowly approached. She could be a help or a lure for the actually trap, and now with a greater knowledge of magical creatures his mind made up hundred of different scenarios for what could happen.

"Are you okay little girl?" Toby said trying to sound soothing as he approached. His dagger held tightly in his main hand, wand in his off hand. The girl just sniffled and continued to cry. Toby quietly said sorry, and cast _Petrificus Totalis_ on her from behind.

The spell splattered against her form, and she turned erupting into a shriek. Toby barely caught a look at her face before bolting past her. He could hear her foot step following him at a mad pace as he booked it for all he was worth.

Toby spared a glance behind as he took a corner and regretted seeing the strange two image face split down the center that seemed to run down her body. The left following a pale almost mask like look, and the right a dark visage of rage. Then Toby ran into something springy, and immediately started to struggle against it as he wasn't moving away from it.

The entire corridor ahead of him was covered with walls of spider webs. He could have wiped them away easily enough but he missed his chance with this demonic girl chasing him. Turning back to see if she was getting closer he saw a spider as large as a car drop from above her and stab her in the back with a poisonous spine at the tip of his thorax.

She didn't notice as she kept coming forward. Toby was using his dagger to start sawing through strands as setting them on fire while he was still attached seemed dangerous.

She got right in his face and he could see her eyes open wide staring into his. Each eye was like a reflection of the other side. Her pale mask side eye was black, with a white iris that seemed to shake as if unable to stop moving. The rage sides eye had what looked like a normal eye, but the iris was pitch back, and looked down upon him with disapproval. Toby felt heady for a moment, before the giant tarantula caught her with its legs and dragged her away, wrapping the demonic little girl in web cocoon.

Toby was now standing there freed from the web after whatever she had done, but felt unsteady on his feet. His body was moving easier as if lighter. A quick check over himself showed his armor was all gone. He only had his potions on the inside of his jacket left.

'Was she removing all my protection? Was that her point?' Toby thought to himself. Toby was even more surprised when he heard a response that wasn't his own. 'No, her magic was to divide your soul. I believe she was a lesser demon from the orient. My magic protected us from it.'

Quickly spinning around as he felt the sound come from behind he saw a shadow of smoke, holding a human shape nearly a foot taller them himself. The shadow was supporting his armor as if it was solid, and after a few moments the armor started to mold itself. Gauze wrapped the shadows giving them better definition, until it looked like a mummy wearing ornamental armor. A wand in his right and dagger in his left the shadow turned the wand towards the spider and called out.

"Sectumseptra!" Toby turned to see what happened to the spider as he had never tried Snape signature spell before.

The spider didn't seem to notice any difference.

"Um… I don't think it worked." Toby said after a moment.

"It seems this isn't a true body. I still cannot use a wand." The Shadow spoke looking to the wand and then to Toby. Toby reached out for the wand, while keeping a close watch on the figure. The voice sounded like his from the mirror, but he was starting to get leery of his mirror self after his trip to see Urdrog. As the Shadow handed over his wand he noticed the Diadem was sitting on its brow.

"We should move before the Acromantula notices us again." Once again armed with a wand he banished the webbing in his way and moves out of the corridor of the spider. The Shadow kept pace just behind him with the dagger at the ready. Toby tried to keep his mind carefully blank as he did during practice with Snape, he wasn't sure how powerful of connection he shared with his shadow ally right now.

"Interesting dilemma this causes us. Will you return to the mirror side if I put that armor back on then?" Toby asked quietly as he was searching for different passages.

"I imagine, but both of us working together right now would seem more beneficial as two then just one." He said with the reasonable sound to his voice. It was hard to argue with, but paranoia seemed to help a lot.

"Two sets of eyes keeping a look out seem better then one I agree. Can you do the search-" Toby was interrupted as the ground next to him exploded. A large almost scorpion like grey monstrosity broke free of where it had been hiding. A stinger held over the top and what looked like a jet engine near the rear side let out a decent flame as it blast forward nearly running over Toby.

After dodging to the side Toby rolled back to his feet and let loose a beautiful string of curses and jinxes against what he believed was a Blast-Ended Skrewt, a creature the half-giant Hagrid had bred a few years earlier. Each spell deflected off the carapace, and once again Toby cursed the wands for there uselessness.

Shadow ducked towards the creature after it had blasted forward and tried stabbing it, but the armored hide was to perfect for the dagger to slip underneath the chinks. It turned sending him flying as the tail end slammed into his armored form.

"Got any idea's? This things hide is as bad as goblin steel." Toby called out as he levitated his cloak as he jumped to stay clear of sting attack from the creature. Landing on the far side, as it was difficult to levitate oneself, readied himself for the next assault.

"I have an idea, but I'm going to need your wand. Let me try to remerge us, and I believe I can take this thing." Shadow said as he parried off attacks from the front claws with his own gloves. When the stinger came down he ducked underneath and tried to stab the soft underbelly but it blast forward before he could get the dagger into place.

"Do it quickly! If the spider catches up right now I don't want to be dodging around both!" Toby ran toward Shadow, the armor split off and the gauze retracted into the armor taking on the leather like appearance that Toby used while wearing it. The armor never actually touched him, as it kept the size when Shadow wore it. The smoke entered Toby through his eyes and mouth and immediately he felt as if he was shoved aside in his own body.

Toby could almost imagine a room in his mind that controlled what was going on, and now he was on his arse in a corner, while a large serpent held the drivers seat. He could still watch and feel what his body was doing, but it was almost like it was a recording, foggy image that didn't quite match up.

He could not hear the spellwork Shadow was using but as the Blast-Ended Skrewt charged them again the wand moved like a blur. Shackles wrapped the two front legs, and then stone pillars shot up underneath those legs forcing the underside to be pointing towards them. Before the creature could break the shackles his dagger floated up and at the wands direction flew straight into the underbelly.

A high pitched screech echoed from the creature as Shadow pulled the dagger out and continued directing it to other places along the body, now propelled by magic it was able to pierce. Also the blade seemed to heat up on each impact burning through the carapace, and leaving infection on each spot as the basilisk poison started to eat away its body from each stab wound.

The whole event took only a few seconds, but the venom took a few moments to eat through, rendering the beast barely a husk.

"That was beyond expectations. How did I learn such magic?" Toby asked aloud, his voice sounding doubled as the Shadows voice came out at the same time. Toby had pushed the serpent in his mind aside as they watched the creature die. The serpent seemed to have finally noticed and Toby felt the murderous intent as he rear as if to strike him in there mind. The Serpent seemed to catch itself and settle into a corner.

"The spellwork was from Ravenclaw, I the mirror self learns from each user, and can help augment your skill. I thought you understood this." His voice said smoothly.

"I was under the impression after we first met that you were a duplicate of my own mind. Another version of myself."

"You seem to have misunderstood there Toby. I would understand if those lesson before we were together are kind of hazy, the clarity you have achieved with me causes our old life to be lost in a daze." The eeriness of the double voice made him stop trying to talk and just start moving again. The shadow was playing him was sure of it, but he couldn't do anything about it until he could get back to Jareth.

The dagger in hard led him past a few more of the basic obstacles before rounding the corner into one of his favorite creatures from the entire book.

A Sphinx.

His path had lead him to the Sphinx, who like in the text book was patiently waiting for her question to be answered.

Toby approached, the armor still hanging around him instead of on him as he bowed and asked for her riddle. She nodded in return and recited;

"_What has roots as nobody sees, Is taller then the trees_

_Up, up it goes, And yet never grows?"_

'I know a few spells that could put her in her place, and be past here without wasting anymore time. Shall I use them?' Shadow asked immediately.

'For being Ravenclaw Diadem, you should be more proficient with the riddles then with the wand work. Remember _Wit without measure is mans greatest treasure_.' He stood back and started to ponder the riddle. He knew he had heard it before, sometime a few years back, most likely in one of the book Sarah had read to him.

"What has roots that nobody see, but its taller then the trees."

'We are wasting time, Lupin may have passed her already.'

'Quiet! Help me think, what was the book I heard it from?'

"You are still free to leave, but if you answer wrong I will attack." She said after a moment. Toby nodded and started to pace back and forth. The answer was in a muggle book, he knew it already, so wasn't wasting time to trying and figure out the clues. The book was a long one, and many parts had made him laugh as it was plainly written by someone that didn't really know about those creatures… it was the creature in the mountain that had the contest though. The main character had done a riddle contest. Eggs, fish, time… and the Mountain itself had been answers!

'And yet it never grows…!' Toby turned to the sphinx, "a Mountain." She nodded and stepped aside.

'I thought you would be better at that.'

'Right now the more proficient answer would have been to remove the target, we don't have time for pleasantries.'

'If I could put the diadem back on, we would have more. I could use its magic.'

'For now we stay like this, you need my spellwork for anymore challenges.' Toby tuned him out as he raced forward and saw a floating crystal orb like the one Jareth used as his focus. As he neared it a doorway swung up to his left and he saw Lupin coming though running for the orb as well.

At this distance Lupin wouldn't have a chance, but Toby felt the snake in his mind finally act, it coil and knocked him out of control as if he had been hit by a car. While he tried to clear his mind enough to see what was going on he found the armor had attached itself to him again and the wand was out front, a sectumseptra already had been set flying, Lupin was able to deflect it in time.

"Traitor in our midst! Greyback will be punished for letting Order filth like you among his pack!" Shadows voice rang out, but it didn't have the same double tone as before, this time it was deeper, and held a sound almost like a serpent had been given a real voice.

"Voldemort…?" Lupin said in disbelief coming to a stop. Toby heard the serpent whisper the spell in the control room as his body begun to forge the pattern and cast.

'_Avada Ke_-" Toby tackled the Serpent in his mind out of control and his body fell over at the same time. Quickly pulling the Diadem off, he could still feel the Serpent in his mind reel as he rolled back to his feet.

"Sorry Remus! I'll fix this before we meet again!" Toby cried out as he took the last few step to the Orb and vanished from the Labyrinth.

_...-~-…_

Toby didn't wait for Jareth as he took off back to Hogwarts and to his only place of solace. The Room of Requirement. With his armor nearly complete, and Voldemort possessing his wand he wasn't sure if Jareth could stand against the wizard.

He wanted to go to Snape, but the same problem appeared, his armor would protect him from nearly all the magic Snape could perform. This would have to be his own battle.

Once inside the room he tossed the diadem on his work table, the mirrors around the room though showed a much changed reflection. A handsome twenty-some old wizard stood across from him, as his reflection.

"You lied to me."

"I _am_ your path to glory, already with my help the magic you have mastered put you on par with many adult wizards."

"You are the wizard I'm training to defeat."

"No, I'm the part of you that wishes to be greater then that wizard, together as one being we will overmatch what the withered Voldemort has become. Together we will stand as a Goblin King, lording over these petty wizards who thought they were above our goblin friends." Toby tore his eyes away from the reflection and tried to push the idea out of his mind. It was something he wanted, the goblin felt more like family then his wizard one did at times. It was his destiny to become a Goblin King, and with the spellwork of someone as powerful as Voldemort as his own it would make him nearly unstoppable.

"This wasn't the path I wished to take."

"Nobody can foresee the path ahead of them, but together we will carve out a new one the like the Wizarding world has never seen before."

"What if I said no?" Toby said in a near whisper before looking back to the reflection. The reflection didn't move with him, and the surprised on his face was only there for a moment before carefully hidden away like all good Slytherin learn to do.

"Toby, I thought you had come to realized already that this wasn't a choice. We are already partners, and if you force me I can make it less then that. While we are merged once again I have the wand, and you will not be able to stop me like you did with Lupin. We have been joined for to long." He said holding up the wand, Toby notice his own arm holding it up in the real world. His off hand holding the diadem that he swore he had set aside a few moments ago.

"Snape or Jareth will know the truth."

"Not so far, I have masqueraded as you for months while you slept. And you haven't let on to either I exist, just like me always secretive, trusting no one into his inter confidence so they may betray him."

"I will not back-" He started to shout at the mirror but the door to his room opened as three students fell in. Toby was stunned at the turn of events and looked at them speechless. The largest of the three was a slightly pudgy wizard that looked nearly eighteen. He was fastest on the ball as he got to his feet in a hurry.

"Ginny, there a Slytherin in here!"

"Get rid of him before they find us!" the girl with long red hair said as she untangled herself from the other boy. Turning back to other boy that Toby started to think was Neville a burst of red light flashed into his face as he registered him saying _Expelliarmus_.

Toby flew back letting go of the Daidem, and wand both. He instantly reacted as he practiced with Snape to pull his wand back to him and prepare his defense as he rolled to his feet. He focused on the armored parts of him going to more of a chainmail variety as the spell had landed on one of his few unarmored parts. Rolling back to his feet, Toby stood brandishing his wand as he reached in his bag for his cloak.

The second boy he didn't recognize, but the girl Ginny started unleashing a series of hexes though she still verbalized. Toby caught each sending them aside unlike anything he had ever been able to do against Snape. Neville joined her a moment later, forcing Toby to deflect his spells as he still countered each of Ginny's. The second boy seeing the young Slytherin still standing against the torrent of spells added his own.

Toby had to give ground under the assault, he turned to deflecting Ginny's spells with his armor, using shield spells against the second boy and directly countering Nevilles. The second boy spells were more sloppy and he actually took breaks from muttering his spells to ask the others, "Who... the hell… is this kid?"

"Doesn't matter, the Carrows are coming, we need him out of here before then!" Ginny took a break to move to a better position. Toby took advantage, and put the second boy down, and moved closer to the door. He still felt an overwhelming drive to get to the Diadem, but with them there he didn't think he would have a chance, especially if the Carrow's were on there way. Just being a Slytherin didn't put him in good graces with those animals.

Ginny seeing him move towards the door pulled Neville back. Toby finished pulling his cloak out and wrapped it about himself as he fled the room. Toby had never felt so foolish, of course other people still remembered the room, and he had never asked the room to remain closed to others while he was inside. He barely made it past the Carrow's as they searched for the Gryffindor students he had just left.


	7. Chapter 7

"Leave it there. You're lucky enough as it is that it didn't take over you fully while you had it." Snape said as he paced back in forth in front of an exhausted Toby. Toby had gone straight to Snape telling him of the Horecrux. Toby had removed his armor and set them aside as he explained what almost happened to him.

"Inform me from now on of each of the toys you employ, we don't need any more mishaps."

"Yes, sir."

"Congratulations of your victory." Toby looked up and smiled for the first time since he had left Snape presence earlier that night. He had forgotten that he had in fact won the second challenge.

"Thank you, will you retrieve the Diadem? We can destroy it now."

"No, Albus's plan still stands."

"You have seen as well as I that even he can make mistakes. We need to act against the Dark Lord for when the Potter boy fails."

"The animosity you have for the Potter boy is unfounded Toby. He has excelled in the past against odds that even a goblin would have said were impossible."

"He is talentless, little wret…" Toby started to shout then just stopped. He looked around the room as if seeing it for the first time. "Um… though I still think we need to be more proactive with our help, I actually don't dislike him anymore." Toby said sounding stunned.

"The Dark Lord is no longer influencing you. I might have suspected that myself if you hadn't been voicing some of my own opinions."

"Yeah, well Albus knew best before he died… I still think we need to retrieve the Diadem."

"Ablus's plan still stands, and there is no way we can inform Harry of what happened, and you did just attack some of his friends, including his girl friend. I don't think he will trust us long enough for an explanation."

"They assaulted me!" Toby replied in a more bantering tone.

"And before the night is over I'm sure they will be telling the tale of how they burst in on you as you were summoning the Dark Lord here, and were barely able to stop you and the dozens of Death Eaters at your side. Now let me escort you back to your common room. You're going to need your sleep before you see Jareth tomorrow." Toby nodded in reply and put all his armor into his bag and pulled the cloak about him before descending the stairs.

Toby fell asleep that night turning over the galleon he had from Dumbledore's Army, and contemplating hundreds of ways to sneak back in and get his Diadem. Each more foolish then the last as he knew it would kill him to posses it again.

_...-~-…_

The next day ran hectic. Using the house elves and a few contacts he had, Toby was able to construct Ginny, and Neville schedules and stay out of there way. They had been missing a lot of classes lately, and this thankful made traveling the castle easier. Running into them again this soon was bound to start a fight, even though he felt like he needed to thank them.

The trip into the labyrinth went over better then he planned. After the explanation that left Jareth pacing his thrown room with all the normal entertainment absent again.

"The wizards are putting to much stock in this Harry Potter. If we know of one of Tom's weak points we need to remove it immediately. Soon we will have three full hosts to add to the Orders wizards." Jareth twirled several spheres through his hands as he spoke mostly to himself.

"For now he seems to be there best bet. Potter has already eluded death for years from the Dark Lord, and now with him nearly back to full power Potter has still eluded capture."

"For now. I'll keep an ear out, you on the other hand need to get to work. You don't have a double mind to help you keep up with school work, and smithing, and I'm sure this wars final battle is fast approaching."

"You don't seriously mean for Toby to actually participate in that conflict do you!" Jareth smiled as he sent several of his sphere to float about the room changing the rooms lighting to something similar to candle light, Toby cringed as his sister walked into the room from the direction of the city.

"Come, come my-"

"I am ready for this Sarah." Toby said quietly, Jareth had stopped and looked to his Prince. Sarah looked at her little brother as he had grown a second head.

"Absolutely not! I'll get Dad and Gram if I need to but you are way too young to be even thinking about…" her rant fell away as she watched her brother blow a dragon made of fire off the tip of his wand. The dragon moved away from the wand turn into an icy blue color and eventually into a more solid shape made entirely of ice. The little ice dragon in a huff let off a blast of steam at the ground forcing its foggy ice body to fade out as if its body was the fuel for the steam.

"I faced off against Voldemort just yesterday, and lived." He said not looking up at his sister. He desperately didn't want his sister to see the partial truth there.

It felt like a short eternity before she finally spoke up. "He was at the school?"

"No, I've been traveling away from the school on missions. I came across him and escaped." Jareth was carefully keeping his face blank as he tried to figure if Toby was digging himself a deeper grave or actually getting through to Sarah.

"I'm taking you home now." She moved towards him. Toby had left his armor in his bag, and stood up as she approached with his wand at his side.

"Sis, I can't do that right now. I still have classes, and work to be done." He finally looked up at her. She reached out to take his arm and he stepped back out of reach.

"I am needed here." He said trying to keep the pleading out of his voice.

"Toby… you're my little brother and I love you, but we are going home now."

"I'm sorry, but no."

"Please." She said and raised her wand at him, tears started down her cheeks as he shook his head.

"_Petrificus Totalis._" she said whispered. Toby brought his wand up with a shield charm and jump back to make sure the shield itself didn't flatten his sister. She seemed startled that he actually blocked, she pointed her wand again and a red flash of light flew from it as she tried to whisper _Expelliamus_ as quietly as possible.

Toby flicked his wand and sent it to the side. Tear flowed as she leveled as many binding or disarming charms that she could think of at him. Toby parried a few off with his wand before he started to walk back towards her. After the first two he stopped using his wand and was still pulling shield charms around himself without verbalizing.

As Toby was nearly arm reach she tried another spell and couldn't even pull the magic into the words before she felt them unravel. She fell to her knees dropping her wand putting her just under his height as she leaned forward and punched him on the shoulder before falling into a hug, crying into the same shoulder.

"I'm just trying… to protect my baby brother." She said through the sniffles.

"I know Sis, but right now I'm trying to protect everyone else." Toby whispered to her, as he hugged her back trying to comfort her.

"Promises me you'll be safe?"

"I promise you we will win this war." He said as she started to pull away. He pulled her wand from the ground to his hand and handed it to her. She looked down at it before taking it.

"When did you learn to do all that?" she said as she started wiping away her tears, careful to keep her back to Jareth.

He gave a weak chuckle, "Like I said, I survived a run in with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. I got mad wand skills now." He said with a smile as she shoved him a bit and got back to her feet.

_...-~-…_

Toby paced back and forth on the astronomy tower. He was over stressed and anxious. The lack of diadem had not harmed his school work, but his personal free time had been cut to ribbons. He cursed himself for not having an actual friend in Slitherin in the first place. He didn't have anyone to go blow off steam with, and his armor was already complete and kept discreetly under his robes everywhere he went now.

The Room of Requirement was completely sealed off constantly now, and the third time he had tried Snape had even caught him trying to get in. Even if it wasn't for the diadem, he missed the familiar surroundings of the chamber.

"Tonight. I know its going to start tonight." He kept up his pace, letting the circular train of thought keep dragging him in the same circles.

Harry had been captured a month or so ago, and escaped the Malfoy Manor. Toby had almost left immediately to aid the boy that would be king, but Snape was kind enough to remind him that he had already escaped. Tonight Headmaster Snape had come again and explained that Potter had broken into Gringotts bank.

This was going to be it. Potter was searching for the Horecrux's and with this bold of a move would have to come looking for the others. He had spent months planning his attack on all of them, and would know there locations. Careful to make sure he could get to them all before the Dark Lord could act to move them.

Now where the hell was he? The break in was some time ago, and Potter had to be on his way already. He would come and destroy the cursed/beloved Daidem. Severus was down in his office preparing all the castle enchantments and wards. He explained that soon as it starts he would be ran out, as the rest of the castle still thought him loyal to the Dark Lord so I would have to meet up with him as soon as he could leave the Dark Lords side without question.

The main battle would probably happen tonight.

The final challenge still hadn't been made.

The Gringotts was going to be furious that his beloved bank was robed, he would want his vengeance and should be coming for them now. The challenge should have been made. We would win it, and with three goblin hosts to bolster the castle the Dark Lord would be pushed back.

Where was Gringotts!

The door to the tower opened, Toby already anxious had his wand out and pointed at his possible attacker before he had even noticed the intrusion.

There was no one there, and the door slowly closed. He felt a thin blade laid against his neck. A quick shield charm blasted at the blade as he turned to bring his wand against the attack for a stronger spell.

The blade absorbed the Shield charm, and before he turned halfway around he felt the familiar body binding spell wrap him up tight. He muttered the counter curse as he fell and was able to catch himself before hitting the ground. He ripped the cloak he wore from himself and posted them as a wall transmuting them to steel so he would have a few moments to get his bearings.

The thin blade cut through his quick wall and wand held in the off hand tossed a glowing red spell his way. His pulled the shield charm around himself as he tried to delve into his targets mind to find the next spell.

The mind was blanked out, and the spell shattered the shield charm but losing much of its power before completely falling apart against Toby's armor.

"A Rapier?" Toby asked as he kept his wand and dagger at the ready. His armor already beginning to mold themselves to act as clothes, a leather armor set with cloth bindings to act as a second skin.

"The smithy's told me that it would never be a choice weapon but I found it suits me rather well." Jareth said as he put the handle next to his wand and the vanished into a black sphere that Jareth started to expertly twirl around his hands. Toby returned both his weapon to his sleeves as he was still tense waiting.

"Did he summon? Is it finally time?"

"No, and I believe Gringotts see the potential here. He will wait for the end of the Wizards battle to challenge. If you want your army we are going to have to challenge him for the third task." Jareth explained as he stood there in a flowing red jacket with black inlays. He took on the appearance of a dark gawdy villain but look good at it. He was dressed to impress during the final task, cause he had already known that Toby would agree.

"We will have to make it quick, Potter will be entering the castle any time now and we need to be ready to lend him aid." He waved his wand across the remnants of his cloak as it patched itself into a shabby looking carpet. He bewitched it to levitate as Jareth took wing out of the tower. They flew across the grounds, before dive-bombing into the reflection of the lake.

The moved towards the coliseum once again and were not surprised to find Gringotts waiting there. He looked irritated as he was squabbling with his champion.

"…for yourself. The boy is in league with You-Know-Who, this battle there pushing so they can add to his forces." Gringotts nearly growled out of his smiling mouth as they landed. Lupin looked in much better health then Toby remembered seeing him.

"Gringotts, I call for the third Challenge." Jareth said as his voice echoed across the entire arena.

Gringotts smiled something sinister as he stepped up to Jareth. Though his words were meant to more conversational, they carried across the entire coliseum. "Lord Jareth, as you be well to remember if you make the challenge then it falls upon me to pick the task."

"It has been months since your last challenge and my patience is wearing thin Banker. We will have the final task in less then an hour now, or you will forfeit and your host and lands fall to me."

"My task will be simple then. It will be a simple searching game." Gringotts turned to the audience as the entire floor vanished and became an overhead view of both champions.

"Explain."

"The ground will show us the path they follow and keep us informed on events. For this search will take up more space then your little building will allow for. They will both return to the wizards world and search out the one who stole an object from my bank. The first to find and return him to the goblin underground, any part of it, will be declared the winner." He bowed his head with his arms raised high as the audience erupted into a roar of applause. Whether Gringotts goblins or not, the bank had been the pinnacle establishment for goblin kind in the wizards world and the thief would be brought before them.

"Your champion has one hour to prepare." Jareth said before turning to Toby. Toby nodded before exiting the box and returning to the arena floor. He careful searched his bags to make sure everything he needed was in there, before taking a nap to wait for the time to pass. The third challenge had finally come.

_...-~-…_

Remus was watching his son Teddy sleep in his crib. 'Grintoll' had warned him that tonight Jareth and Toby would come and make the challenge instead. There had been a break in at Gringotts a few hours ago and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was drawing all his forces to him in preparation.

There was a knock at the door; Remus knew everyone who lived here wouldn't have bothered. He turned as the door opening and the tallest goblin he had ever met stepped inside.

"Such a precious child you have Mr Lupin, seems to have taken all the best quality's of its mother and father. If anything were to befall you, would you like me to see that the child is taken care of?" he asked as he looked into the crib.

"I have already made arrangements Grintoll." He waved the goblin back to the door. Grintoll needed a few moments of coaxing before walking to the door. He closed the door and reopened it to reveal the outer ground of the coliseum. Toby's explanation earlier on had helped him understand the difference in Grintoll compared to the other goblins he met, and how he was able to do such elaborate forms of magic. The door trick had stunned him when he first seen it.

"Has Jareth come then?"

"He's on his way now. I have the task in place, something that given the current events should be no problem for you."

"You've been lying to me Gringotts, the boy isn't part of his army is he?"

"You need to be less trusting my friend. He is Slitherin, and star pupil of Severus Snape. The boy has played Jareth for a fool and even started learning how to craft Goblin silver, which I might add is a capital offense."

"I have met the boys family."

"Do you not recall what happened at the last task? He was controlled by the Dark Lord himself and tried to attack you!"

"He also broke the control to protect me."

"We broke the control to protect you because we don't allow outside interference with our tasks!" Gringotts was standing next to his throne leering at him as they heard foots steps coming up the other side.

"If you're playing me false you wont win this competition."

"What more do you need to believe me! You saw for yourself. The boy is in league with You-Know-Who, this battle there pushing so they can add to his forces." He growled out before turning to play the politician to Jareth.

Remus listened to the challenge and realized what he had walked into. As much as he wanted to believe the boy, he realized that this was all about goblin politics. They didn't care if Harry was the best hope for the Wizarding world to win out, they wanted there justice against those that wronged them.

The final task would be to capture Harry Potter and bring him to the goblins.

Or was it?

With the hour preparation he tried to think about his options. The task was to return with a thief that took something from the Bank. Years ago Quirell had broken into Gringotts, but there was nothing in the safe so that couldn't work. His best bet was that maybe Hermione or Ron had actually taken it. He just had to bring one of them through into this world and let them back out, the trial had said just to this world.

The portcullis opened, he had spent too much time planning and hadn't paid attention to the time. He walked out on to the floor and into the picture that showed what he would be doing.

Reappearing just outside the door to Teddy's room he took a moment to check inside and make sure he was till there. He didn't trust Gringotts not to do something. Closing the door quietly again he felt the heavy weight of a piece of chalk in his pocket. The entrance magic didn't always work, but this kind of chalk was supposed to help solidify the transportation magic.

Personally he would have rather taken a port key.

The living room was a buzz as Fred was quickly conversing with Tonk. Remus moved over quickly to him, if anyone may know where Harry and company might be it had to be one of Dumbledor's Army members.

"…through Hog's Head. Be careful though, they still have that cadawallow charm outside. I have to get going, other people to warn." He disappear on the spot as Tonks turned to him.

"Potter's at Ogwarts right now. There goin' to fight!" She said with a big smile on her face, she seemed overjoyed but Remus could see the reserve in her eyes. She wanted to go, but Teddy was just in the other room. They couldn't leave him here.

"Take him to your mother and wait-" the look she gave him there stopped him in his tracks. "long enough for him to get settled down and follow. They said there was a path from Hogs Head into Hogwarts?" She nodded her head before giving him a hug and a kiss that they held for longer then Remus wanted to spare, but who knew what would happen later this night.

"I'll see you there, save me a few will ya?" She said as she raced back to Teddy's room.

"Love you!" he called back before he felt the familiar twisting in his gut as he disapparated to Hogs Head.

_...-~-…_

The tavern was crowded as several of Harry's friends were appearing around him, and Order members were already moving down the hallway. He greeted those he could but quickly moved to the tunnel. He need to get Harry alone and ask about who actually took the cup.

The long tunnel sloped steadily upwards until it came out in a very cramped room that had what felt like half the school held up. After quickly looking around he didn't spot any signs of Harry, Ron or Hermione.

He did locate Neville Longbottom.

"Neville, where is Harry?" he asked cutting into his conversation with Lee. Neville turned looking worse they Remus himself looked after the night of the full moon. He was positively beaming though as he looked to be directing many of the other students.

"He took off with Luna a few minutes ago to Ravenclaw homeroom. He's looking for something really important and there might be clues there."

"Have you seen Ron or Hermione around then?"

"Yeah they were here just a moment ago, I think I heard Ron say something about a washroom." Remus nodded and moved off. Soon enough they would be back hopefully and he would get things covered. If anything he really just needed to keep Toby from getting to Harry until this battle was over.

Listening for the door while he tried to keep up plans with the others he didn't miss the sound from the stairs. Breaking off the conversation with Kingsley he moved to the stairwell just in time for Harry to reach the bottom. If only he had time to explain…

"Harry what's happening?" was all he could get out, the ongoing battle was more important then the goblins squabble. He just had to keep Toby from reaching Harry, kept playing over and over in his brain.

"Voldemort's on his way, they're barricading the school, Snap's run for it. What are you doing here? How did you know?" Harry made out as he looked around the room at all the people that came to fight for him.

"We sent messages to the rest of Dumbledore's Army," Fred explained before anyone else could try to cover everything. "You couldn't expect everyone to miss the fun Harry, and the D.A. let the Order of the Phoenix know, and it all kind of snownballed." Harry sent the other after a quick explanation to the great hall where everyone else was preparing, Remus moved aside so the other could pass. With less people here maybe he could explain what was going on with the goblin host.

Ginny was putting up a ruckus about going back until Percy of all people fell out of the portrait. How to get Harry away from all this mess?

"So, 'ow eez leetle Teddy?" Fluer turned and asked him, trying to break the tension. Remus was startled as he tried to pull his thought back to the battle at hand.

"I, oh yes, he's fine! Yes, Tonks is with him… at her mother's." he reached into his pocket. "Here, I've got a picture." He spoke loudly trying to pull attention away from the Weasleys. They finally started the make up argument or what you will as he drowned them out showing his son to Fluer and Harry who was nearby. His attention pulled back to the Weasley's when they caught Ginny trying to sneak out.

Remus finally stepped in as he already had a similar conversation with Tonks just a short time ago. "Molly, how about this, Why doesn't Ginny stay here, then at least she'll be on the scene and know what's going on, but she wont be in the middle of the fighting?" he offered. Hopefully when Tonks showed up Ginny would guilt her into staying in the room with her.

A quick agreement passed between them before the Weasley parents went for the stairs to go to the Great Hall, Remus fallowed. If all went well Ron and Hermione would take care of Harry until he could get the defenses in place.

_...-~-…_

Toby looked about himself as finished stepping though the scry window. He had been dropped off on the grounds, not to far from the Greenhouse. Pulling an invisibility cloak about himself he moved towards the castle. There was no telling how long he had to find Harry Potter and take him into the other world before the battle began.

As he approached the castle a window above him shattered and a black figure fell before assuming a large bat-like shape. Toby quietly cursed as Snape took flight. There was no allies left inside the castle.


	8. Chapter 8

The shards of glass tore holes in the cloak, and even gave him a cut across the cheek. Wrapping the cloak as careful around himself as he could, he tried to do some quick mending but to no real avail. The best he could do to help was a disillusion charm before levitating himself up to the broken window. The room had already cleared out as they saw to the defense of the school.

The best place to wait for Harry Potter had to be at the Room of Requirement. He couldn't just turn him over though. Potter had a battle to win here before he stood trial for his crimes. Wait. Toby shook the thought from his head. He knew the importance of the Horecrux far outweighed the cost to Gringott's prestige.

Setting off through the castle proved to be quiet a chore. Hundred of students and all the teachers seemed to be moving about while he was trying not to get ran over while invisible. The rest of the school seemed to be heading for the Great hall while he moved upstairs.

He quietly drew dozens of doors across the floor, ceiling, and walls. His plan was simple. When Harry walked across one he would open it. Follow the Potter boy through and then let him out without him being any the wiser.

Dozen of people where coming out of the door that even if Potter was amongst them he probably would never notice. He had only seen him a few times in person; what if Potter walked by and he didn't recognize him? What if Potter was using a disguise to hide from the Death Eaters that were surely looking for him as well and it wasn't magical in nature?

Toby started to pace the hallway trying to see through the crowd for Potter, but a bright orange light caught his attention instead.

Following the light he found it emanated from one side of the castle. As he looked out the window he saw dozens of very slender looking centaurs, each wreathed in flames, and singed and burned away all that was in there way.

"Heliopaths." Toby whispered. They where a warhost unto themselves from a Goblin King. Did someone side with Voldemort after all? They would burn the castle to ash and everything inside, friend or foe. They had to be stopped.

Toby pulled what was left of his chalk and drew a door. The door was open before he finished knocking and went through.

Urdrog was waiting for him.

"Wheres the Potter boy?" he asked searching around as if he was hidden inside his cloak.

"Not yet. GOBLIN KING, GOBLIN KING." He bellowed out as if starting the nursery rhyme Sarah had used so long ago. Jareth should hear it.

Coming down the steps before the second king was spoken was Jareth.

"Toby we don't have the forces yet. Rashad bought them before she went to Gringotts." Jareth said looking very worried.

"Send what ever we have! The wizards can't extinguish the flames of any one of them. That Herd outside the castle wont be stopped by anything short of a real armory."

"They are the flame that burns in our hearth Toby, they can destroy our weapons and armor as easily as the stones of the castle." Jareth said trying to remind him of the difficulty of the situations.

"I would lead our own host if I could, and will as soon as I can. Right now I have to get the thief!" Toby said before turning back to the door and stepped down. Toby watched the charred path the Heliopath cut down the mountain. Why weren't the wizards even trying to stop them yet? Toby looked around and saw none of the other student stop to look at the atrocity coming there way.

Looking around one last time he stopped and took a deep breath. Reaching up he pulled one of his contacts out and look around without its penetrating gaze. The army of Heliopath vanished, as with the trail of destruction that followed them. Voldemorte, or possibly Gringotts himself was hiding there approach.

Pushing the contact back into place, he vaguely heard from behind him what he thought might have been Ron's voice, "…concentrating when they mentioned how to stop it, really. If he hadn't tried to kill us all, I'd be quite sorry he was dead."

A girls voice was whispering something she sound excited about. Could it be Hermione? Toby pulled the cloak about himself as best he could and moved back to the door. If he could just get Harry here…

He rounded the corner just in time to see two other red head come down the hall whipping spells at a pair of Death Eater.

Harry was on the ground holding what looked like a ruined crown. Toby's Daidem! He reached out for the remains as a blast to the side of the castle shook the world. A large part of the ceiling came falling down. Toby dived for Harry and reached up and touched the door he had drawn there just minutes before. It open as he and Harry Potter fell through to the other side.

_...-~-…_

For a moment Toby just stood there with Harry limp hanging from his arm. As Toby looked him over he saw that Harry had taken a solid blow from the doorframe as he came through. Toby pulled a vial from inside his jacket and poured some of it down his throat and on the wound. Would be no good for him to die here after all the work that has been done to keep him alive.

"I've brought the thief! The task complete! The challenge is resolved, and we take our Spoils as was promised!" Toby called out to the sky. No doubt the scrying window would see what happened. Toby reduced the ruble on the other side of the still open door and pushed Harry through before following.

Barely landing on the ruble without falling over was a bit of a miracle. Toby looked around at the mess and saw Draco and his henchmen passed out on the floor, as the others still struggled to get to there feet Toby poured what was left of the potion into Draco's mouth and levitate them both out of harms way. Taking off down the undamaged corridor, Toby left them as Draco finally started to come around. Taking off out the window he went for where Snape had planned there meeting.

They still had a battle to win.

_...-~-…_

Remus had taken his band out to defend his side of the castle. Once everyone was prepared and in place he said he was going to go to check back in and see if they need the extra wand elsewhere.

The battle had started, and Death Eaters had broken in elsewhere as he searched the castle for Harry Potter. His best bet was to see if he was still near the Room of Requirement.

The Death Eater didn't make that easy. He was fending off two hidden behind there masks as he made he way up the stairs. Several plants seemed to be spread about that were very dangerous and Remus made use of them as he pulled them into his attackers path while trying to escape.

Just a corridor away from the room he saw Tonks running. Ginny didn't keep her in the room as he hoped.

Did he go after her, or find Harry? He needed to keep her safe… as he decided the world froze around him. Tonk was still in midstride as she was moving against a Death Eater that was facing off against a student. The ruble held suspended in midair and he turned in circles wonder how to face off against this level of magic.

"Dog!" A familiar crooked voice bellowed from near where Tonk was suspended. Remus turned to the voice immediately. Gringotts was walking towards him in this frozen world.

"You had him in arms reach! You are one of his greatest mentors! You could have pulled him aside and brought Harry Potter through." He spat the boys name as if it disgusted him to speak it.

"There is a larger battle going right now, I'm searching for him as we speak." Remus said slowing moving toward his Wife. The Goblin King stood next to her. He waved a hand towards her and she crumpled as if her string were cut.

Gringotts pulled a black sphere out of nothing and sent it orbiting around him, each time it made a circuit it got closer to where Tonks had fallen against the wall.

"You failed me Lupin. Toby just got Harry through a moment ago. I don't abide failures well." The black orb started to glow an emerald green and sped up as it followed its path. Each circuit came closer to her.

"Gringotts, she is not apart of this. I'm the one that failed, she has nothing to do with your competition!" Lupin inched forward. The orb seemed to speed up as he got closer, he took a small step back but the orb kept its pace.

"Never should have trusted a wand bearing dog!" Gringotts didn't give an ultimatum, or a chance. The green orb blasted into Tonks, she was momentarly lifted off the ground as it impacted before she landed without the lights in her eyes.

"NO!" Remus cried out as he started leveling spell after spell at the Goblin. Another black orb had appeared in his hand and he tossed it to the air. Each of his spells where blocked in turn by the orb, and Remus could almost see each of his spells flowing around inside the darkened orb.

"Your child will go to a good home Mr Lupin. I'll take good care of it now that it has lost both its parents." Faster then Remus could follow the black orb shattered against him, he felt each of the spell for a split second before he was lifted off his feet and blown against the wall. Like Tonks, he was dead before he felt the impact.

Gringotts let the world return to movement as he turned and transformed into a black cat, running down the hallway.

_...-~-…_

"Severus!" Toby shouted to him before landing. Snape was standing off from a multitude of Slitherin students. Several Death Eater also stood watch. Toby noticed that more the half the students weren't here. Neither was Slughorn. One of the Death Eater pulled a wand and started towards where Toby landed but Snape waved him off.

"The task was complete. They will be here as soon as they finish mobilizing." Toby said solemly as if giving a field report.

"I'll give the report, you…" Toby reached into his mind, Snape put up no resistance as he saw that Luscious and the Dark Lord were held up in the Shrieking Shack. "will return to the forces and make sure there in the correct position for the next assault." His words were punctuated by an eerie creaking howl. The area immediately dropped several degrees as the assembly saw hundred of Dementors flying over head towards the front gates of the castle.

Toby quickly unleashed his own Patronus, a large King Kobra, as many other pushed forth animals, and just a great shield to make sure the 'ally' didn't get the wrong targets.

"Go boy, I have it covered here." Toby pulled his serpent to him and took off again on his carpet. An owl flew up to intercept him on his way down to the Shrieking Shack.

"Jareth! We need to keep him busy, and give Harry the time to find and destroy the last few Horcrux. Potter will come for him then."

"One Dark Lord against a Goblin King and Prince? I believe this maybe overkill." His voice echoed around them as was normal while he was in bird form. There landing and entrance was not masked. They were here to keep the Dark Lord busy and distracted. Jareth held onto his Owl form as Toby walk through the shack. The Dark Lord seemed to be waiting for him as he entered the room. Luscious already waiting with a wand in hand.

"Potter…" the Dark Lords voice whispered out, almost hiss like.

"That's not the wand I remember you with when we met at King's Cross Mr Malfoy." Toby spoke up. The Dark Lord opened his eyes startled to see a boy in Slitherin colors before him. His armor was fitted to look like school robes with a hood. The silver and emerald threading clearly visible.

"You are lacking in manners boy. You should wait to be address. I told Severus I didn't want to be disturbed." He motioned to Lucius.

"I am the commander of the Heliopath now, they are no longer with you and soon will be brought against your encampment." Toby spoke up, his wand and dagger sliding down to his hands. Malfoy watched them as he slowly approached.

"So my friend Gringotts has fallen has he? Then despite your colors you are my enemy Jareth?" Voldemort said in a conversational tone. He didn't seem surprised at the set back. His hand gripping his wand was the only thing to betray the anger going through him. "Lucius. Make yourself useful and dispatch this boy!"

Toby had planned for such a confrontation, but he plan was against the Dark Lord. He didn't want to show his tricks off right in front of his target. Lucius leveled the wand and a bolt of green energy erupted from it. A vial from inside his pocket was pulled forth and into its path. When it stuck the vial exploded sending a horrid green smog throughout the room. The wand had not acted as fast as it should have, it didn't respond to Lucius like it was his ally. Toby realized it had to be a borrowed wand. Coming in low he almost didn't have enough time before Malfoy had drawn a wind to clear the room.

Lucius didn't look down in time as Toby came up driving his dagger into his hand. He dropped the wand, and Toby caught it before looking back as he saw the black ink like substance start racing down his veins. Lucius was already going into shock as he gripped his wrist. Toby looked at the wound horrified. Reaching inside to another vial he started sprinkling a clear liquid on the wound.

"Jareth! This is Draco's Father! I didn't mean to kill him!" The black line that had raced up his veins stopped and receded. After a few moments the hole closed in reverse of how the wound was made as if time had reversed itself around just the wound.

Lucius looked down at it, then to Toby and pushed himself away as fast as he could from where he had fallen.

"Your son looks up to you, remember that he choose to spare Dumbledor." Toby said as the Dark Lord rose from his seat. He flicked the wand and you could watch Lucius started to seize up in pain.

"Once again you prove worthless Lucius, and your son will follow in your foot steps soon enough." Toby looked around the room and found the owl laid over in the corner looking exhausted. Turning back to the Dark Lord he brought his wand up in a ready stance.

"I've dreamt about this moment; when I get to take down the Dark Lord." Toby said as he readied his defenses. Voldemort always seemed to go for Killing Curses, and Toby wasn't all that sure his armor could deflect it. It was higher quality then the normal piece that Wizards had worn to battle before, but he didn't want to chance it.

"And I don't even know your name. Would be such a shame to waste so much potential. You aren't Jareth, but already you are strong enough to take down someone like Lucius without the use of a single spell. Follow me, follow the path of Slytherin and it will bring you to Greatness."

"You wish for immortality, I am already on that path. I will rise to the heights you have only dreamt of, and need none of your tutelage."

Voldemort gave two quick flicks and a pair of serpents appeared out of smoke before him. The struck forward at there prey. Toby had brought his times at the foundry to mind and summoned out his patronus. It struck like lighting against his attackers, each rolled up into balls as if the happiness had infected them like real poison.

"Hesssss sisssthss Hrussthssss" Voldemort hissed to the serpent patronus, trying to control it like a true snake.

"I don't know what you're trying to sell it, but serpents thrive off of weakness. To him you're just a broken worm." Toby mouthed off to him.

"I will not be called weak!" Voldemort let loose a torrent of spells, the first flash of green was absorbed by his patronus. The second blew another potion filling the room with noxious smog again. The last few missed as Toby used the smog's cover to duck away. Voldemort burnt away the smog and leveled another killing curse to the ground in front of him prepared for what the boy had done to Lucius.

Toby wasn't there, but falling from overhead. His armor protected him from the short firewall. A powerful shield charm caught him as he was coming down. His dagger pierced the shield without problem, but his own arm and body didn't follow and were tossed back. He was barely able to roll back to his feet, although crouched before another blast of green was coming for him.

Toby pulled a broken chair into the way and watched as it shattered from the spell.

"You will run out of your little tricks soon enough. You still don't have the strength to kill me boy. I was going to make this quick, but now I think Nagini deserves a meal of such a cunning Slitherin." Voldemort waved his wand and the entire room lit up in a flash of light. Toby felt his clothes and jacket burn white hot before he tore them and the pouch full of potions off, sending them out of reach. His armor still covered him as it remained unaffected.

"No more vials, and…" Toby started sliding towards Voldemort as if he was on ice and the Dark Lord was downhill. He quickly bewitched his boots to hold against the orientation, but didn't have enough time for anything else before a large flaming serpent had filled the room.

Leaping from his spot, but the gravity had been reoriented causing him to fall up towards the serpents mouth. The serpent caught him out of the air in his flaming jaws that were trying to find purchase against his armor. A quick spell turn the serpent to ice and motionless.

Going to break the sculpture with his handle, it cracked under the ice as a true giant serpent broke free from its imprisonment. The dagger still found its mark as it burned through the scales and delivered basilisk venom near the creature eye. The counter jinx for the gravity let him fall back towards the ground. An arm caught him around the throat suspending him before he was able to land.

The dagger flashed out trying to land a blow, but he felt his body shake as what he knew was Sectum septra pierced through his armor near the wrist, forcing him to drop the dagger. Not meaning to, his wand fell as he grabbed his own wrist to put pressure on the bleeding. He pulled his thought towards a shield charm despite the pain, but Voldemort still had his wand and seemed to be ready for such a basic trick and unraveled it as he tried to cast.

"Maybe its destiny that a new Dark Lord should rise from time to time. Grindelwald, then I, and maybe if I hadn't broken the chain and kept myself alive and in power, you would have been the next talent. But the sun will never set on my reign boy." Toby could barely breathe, he couldn't concentrate, and his tools were scattered around the room out of reach.

"Enough!" a great force exploded between Voldemort and Toby breaking them apart. Jareth stood in the center of the room.

"I am the Goblin King Jareth, greatest Wizard of my time, and Master of the Labyrinth Foundry. Maybe you will recall Nicholas Flamel? I granted him my formula for the philosopher stone." Voldemort looked up to Jareth with naked rage across his features.

"Then Jareth, I'll rip your so called title from your shoulders after I have torn your mind apart for what you know!"

Jareth produced his orb spinning from hand to hand as Tom Riddle raised his wand.


End file.
